Public health officials in San Francisco and several other Bay Area counties reinstated an indoor mask mandate this week to combat the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Eight Bay Area health officers announced the new mandate August 2. It goes into effect at midnight August 3. In addition to San Francisco, the other jurisdictions mandating face coverings indoors are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma counties and the city of Berkeley.
According to a joint news release, the officials noted that vaccination continues to protect against severe COVID-19 illness, but with the COVID-19 Delta variant now infecting a small percentage of vaccinated people as well as many