Mask Mandates Return to California With Fines and Prison for Violations

Mask mandates have been reinstated in California’s San Francisco Bay area and, depending upon the county

by Carolyn Hendler, JD

Mask mandates have been reinstated in California’s San Francisco Bay area and, depending upon the county, will include health care workers in medical settings, patients and visitors with fines and prison time for violations. Beginning on Nov. 1, 2024 and through the spring of next year, masks will be required in health care settings, including but not limited to, hospitals, dialysis centers, infusion centers and skilled nursing facilities. Santa Clara, Alameda, Napa, San Mateo, and Contra Costa counties have issued the mask mandate.

While the mandate only applies to health care workers, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties will require visitors to wear masks, and Santa Clara will also require patients to wear masks. Only Santa Clara will exclude children under the age of two and those with certain medical conditions from the mask mandate.¹

All other counties will require all people, including very young children and those with medical conditions, to wear masks. California’s initial mask mandate which extended until March 2024, was the third longest in the country.²

The health officials who ordered the masks mandates claim the mandates are intended to halt the spread of influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. Alameda County’s health order reads:

The fall and winter of 2023-2024 saw substantial waves of RSV, flu and COVID-19, and a similar pattern is expected this year.³

The order added that any violation of the order “constitutes an imminent threat and menace to public health, constitutes a public nuisance, and is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.”⁴

Other Counties Across America May Mandate Masking If CDC Issues Warnings

Currently, California counties are the only areas in the country to set mask mandates at this time. Other states, however, may follow suit should the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issue warnings that COVID cases are rising. In August 2024, counties in Massachusetts and Arizona issued mask mandates due to rising cases of the disease.⁵

According to the CDC:

Generally, masks can help act as a filter to reduce the number of germs you breathe in or out. Their effectiveness can vary against different viruses, for example, based on the size of the virus. When worn by a person who has a virus, masks can reduce the chances they spread it to others.⁶

Critics of mask mandates argue that mask wearers may be more likely to infect themselves with the SARS-CoV-2 virus by transferring infectious material from their hands to their face when adjusting their mask.⁷

A 2023 study by the independent non-profit organization Cochrane, which reviewed 78 studies, concluded that there was “little to no” evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infections were reduced by masking at the population level and that there was “uncertainty about the effects of face masks.”⁸

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