![]() Meanwhile, in Oakland, about 30 members and supporters of Senior and Disability Action held a rally downtown on March 20 calling on the Alameda County health department to create its own mask mandate. On March 24, Santa Clara County ordered that masks be worn in patient-care areas during a “winter respiratory virus period” between Nov. ![]() Both counties’ mandates will remain in place after the state mandate expires on April 3. Los Angeles County issued a similar order on March 13, requiring providers to wear masks in patient-care areas and while working with patients. 28, shortly before the state’s order, San Francisco County created its own mandate requiring healthcare workers and other personnel to wear “well-fitted masks” when in the same room as patients. If Alameda County were to create a mask mandate for healthcare facilities, it would not be unprecedented. In an email to The Oaklandside, Alameda County Health Department Communications Director Jerry Applegate Randrup stated that the county is currently “evaluating the possible effect of the state’s policy changes on local conditions,” and “weighing the most appropriate strategies to address current public health risk.” Randrup also stated that “in general, COVID-19 prevention policy is moving from strict requirements to recommendations over time as population immunity and clinical outcomes improve. The way it could force people to ration care is really disturbing.” “Lifting the masking mandate would have a huge impact on who can access healthcare. “These are settings where people known to have COVID mix with cancer patients, people with autoimmune disorders, senior citizens, and healthcare workers,” said Raia Small, a community organizer with the Bay Area-based nonprofit Senior and Disability Action. The city of Berkeley, which has its own health department, issued a similar order on Monday.Īs the date approaches, an increasing amount of disabled people, seniors, public health advocates, and doctors in Oakland are calling on the Alameda County Health Department to keep requiring masks in healthcare and high-risk locations to protect people from being infected with COVID-19. County health officials plan to revisit the requirement each month and have not indicated whether they plan to create mandates for other settings. On Monday, Alameda County health officials announced one such mandate requiring staff at skilled nursing facilities to be masked when they are working with residents, beginning April 3. County health departments, though, can continue requiring masks if they choose to create their own mandates. ![]() Due to a recent state order, California will lift its mask mandate for such places, which include hospitals, doctor’s offices, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and skilled nursing facilities, beginning on April 3. It’s unclear how much longer people will be required to wear masks in healthcare facilities and other indoor high-risk settings across Alameda County. In the absence of a state or county mask mandate, large healthcare providers in Oakland have been creating their own policies. ![]() ![]() Update: As of April 3, Alameda County has chosen to follow state guidelines that encourage but don’t require masking in healthcare facilities. ![]()
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