California will lift its indoor mask requirements tomorrow for unvaccinated people and March 12 for schools and child care facilities, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.
The changes will mark the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began that both unvaccinated people and students will be allowed to remove their masks indoors.
Newsom jointly announced the new statewide masking policy with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who also announced changes in their states, citing declining COVID case rates and hospitalizations across the west coast.
Newsom said in a statement that masks are an effective tool to minimizing the spread of the virus and future variants. The governor added that, while no one could predict the future course of the virus, California would continue to take measures rooted in science.
Masks will still be required under state and federal rules in health care settings, prisons, homeless shelters, long-term care faciltiies and on public transit.
Newsom said local governments and school districts will still have the ability to be stricter in their enforcement of indoor masking.
Most counties across the state and in the Bay Area have already removed their indoor mask requirements for vaccinated people.
