Alameda County residents no longer have to mask up in indoor public spaces if they don’t want to.
Alameda County Health Officer Nick Moss announced in a video Friday that the requirement to mask indoors has been officially lifted after being put in place June 3 in response to a rising number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and reemerging disparities in who was getting infected.
“At this time, we have now seen sustained decreases in daily case reports as well as stabilization in our hospitalizations and in our wastewater data, which is important because only some cases are reported to the Public Health Department,” Moss said.
In the past seven days, the county reported 13.93% fewer active cases of COVID-19 and 10.9% fewer new hospital admissions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even though the requirement is lifted, Moss said older residents and those with underlying health conditions are still at risk since COVID-19 will continue to circulate in the community.
The CDC put Alameda County in the medium category for community transmission, while smart thermometer company Kinsa puts the county in its high-risk category with a forecast that the illness will continue to spread.
“For this reason, we continue to strongly urge residents to do all the things that we know can protect against COVID,” Moss said. “That means staying up-to-date on vaccinations and continuing to wear masks in indoor public settings, as well as staying home when sick.”
