On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state will have “guidelines and mandates” for wearing masks indoors after it fully reopens next month. The state’s mask mandates took effect in June 2020.
In April, Newsom announced that he would lift most restrictions on business and activities in June if the state’s COVID-19 cases remained low, but said that masks mandates will stay in effect.
In a recent interview with Fox 11 in LA, the California governor said once the state fully reopens, it would look “a lot like the world we entered into before the pandemic.”
“We’re not wearing face coverings,” he said in that interview. “We’re not restricted in any way, shape or form from doing the old things that we used to do, save for huge, large-scale indoor convention events like that, where we use our common sense.”
He also said that there will be “no mandates” and “no restrictions on businesses large and small.”
However, on Wednesday, he retreated his comments and said the state “will still have likely some mask guidelines and mandates” for indoor activities. “But we hope sooner than later, that those will be lifted as well,” Newsom added. “The bottom line is, we’ll go back to most broad strokes semblance of normalcy if we continue down this path.”
The state now requires people to wear a mask when they gather indoors with people who are not vaccinated. However, fully vaccinated individuals can meet indoors without wearing a mask.
Also, people who are fully vaccinated do not have to wear a mask outdoors, but they have to if they attend large gatherings such as festivals, concerts, and sporting events.
Newsom has been under pressure to relax coronavirus restrictions as the number of new cases declines, according to ABC News. He will likely face a recall election later this year, an effort fueled mostly by anger over his handling of the pandemic.
A couple of months ago, Newsom slammed Texas Governor Greg Abbot for lifting the state’s mask mandate, calling it “absolutely reckless.”
Ali Bay, Deputy Director of Communications at California Department of Public Health, said the state will “continue to update face coverings guidance as appropriate, with the goal of continuing to loosen restrictions as more people get vaccinated,” urging Californians to continue to follow the state’s current mask guidelines.
Some public health experts say that we cannot completely stop wearing a mask.
Dr. Brad Pollock of the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, said, “I can’t imagine completely abandoning all masking. If we have no COVID left in the community, that’s one thing. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.” The article was published on ABC News.
