Mask mandates return for a limited time during cold and flu season, in the heart of California’s deep-blue San Francisco Bay Area.

As winter approaches, several Bay Area counties have recently issued health orders requiring mask wearing to be mandatory in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care settings beginning on January 1 November and until March 31 or April 30, 2025, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The new mandates were implemented to prevent the spread of the flu, COVID and other seasonal illnesses. The requirements only apply to health care workers, except in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which also require visitors to wear masks. Santa Clara also requires patients to wear a mask, according to the news outlet.

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Localities that have issued health orders include Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Napa counties.

Health care settings that must follow the orders include hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and infusion centers.

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Santa Clara County will exempt children under 2 years of age and individuals with medical conditions for whom wearing a mask could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a mask without assistance.

Although far less restrictive than pandemic-era COVID mandates, masking requirements still draw opposition from critics.

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“Mask mandates are making a comeback in California,” said Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who faces a challenge from Democrat Jessica Morse. “My opponent, a Newsom staffer, supports masking toddlers. America’s leading masker of 2-year-olds, Xavier Becerra, is preparing a bid for governor. We need to elect the right people to ensure that the “History does not repeat itself.”

The masking orders are similar to health orders issued during last year’s cold and flu season.

In January, several New York City public hospitals joined state health care facilities across the country to reinstate mask mandates in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases and flu infections.

The mandates were lifted once the flu season ended.

Original article source: Mask mandates return of healthcare facilities to deep blue state