A statewide COVID-19 mandate requiring students and staff to wear masks indoors at schools could soon be phased out, with an announcement expected Monday on California’s policy on campus face coverings.
Two weeks ago, California’s Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state was still evaluating pandemic metrics as they pertain to schools, saying the on-campus indoor mask-wearing mandate would temporarily remain in place. But he said the situation would be reevaluated on Feb. 28, when an update would be given.
Ghaly has scheduled a 1 p.m. Monday news conference to discuss the issue.
He said on Feb. 14 that a lifting of the indoor school mask mandate is inevitable, calling it a “question of when.” He expressed confidence that the mandate would be lifted sometime after the reevaluation of COVID case rates and hospitalization numbers.
But he noted that if the assessment supports lifting the mandate, it would not happen immediately. He said the state would set a date that gives school districts, staff and parents time to prepare for the change.
Even if the state does lift the mandate, individual counties could still require the face coverings at schools. It was unclear if Los Angeles County will align with the state’s guidance. The county has already lifted its outdoor mask-wearing rule at schools.
The state previously lifted its indoor mask-wearing mandate for vaccinated residents in other areas, although federal guidelines still require face coverings for everyone in locations such as transit centers, airports, aboard public transit, health care facilities and shelter settings. Los Angeles County has not yet lifted its indoor mandate, although it is now allowing vaccinated people to remove their masks in locations where all patrons are checked for either a COVID vaccination or a recent negative test.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday eased its mask-wearing guidance, adopting new standards that rely largely on COVID hospital numbers to govern whether masks should be worn. Those new standards, however, still classified Los Angeles County as having “high” virus activity and urges that people continue to wear masks.
The new CDC guidance also lists San Diego County has having “high” virus activity, but both Orange and Riverside counties are in the “medium” category, so the federal guidance does not require mask-wearing.