New standards for Covid-19 progress have been set for the Bay Area. Each of the nine Bay Area counties agreed to criteria that would lift the indoor masking requirements for each county or city. In order to lift the mandate, the jurisdiction must be in the moderate or yellow Covid transmission tier as defined by the CDC for at least three weeks, COVID-19 hospitalizations must remain low and stable, and 80% of the jurisdiction’s total population needs to be fully vaccinated. Lifting a local indoor mask mandate would not prevent businesses, nonprofits, churches or others with public indoor spaces from imposing their own requirements. Sonoma County, currently, has substantial transmission (one stage above moderate) and only 77% of those elibible for the vaccine are fully vaccinated.
