The county will follow new state guidelines starting Monday as California loosens requirements, but officials are cautious a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared the state's COVID-19 emergency over.
Starting next week, masks will no longer be required in California's high-risk and health care facilities including jails, homeless shelters and long-term care homes. Health care workers will no longer be required to get vaccinated for COVID, and people with the virus can end isolation after five days, among other changes.
The San Jose Spotlight reports a county health department spokesperson said there are still serious threats to people with certain medical conditions and for those who need vital health care services, especially during high transmission periods.
The county has issued an updated health order requiring masking in health care settings during the winter – Nov. 1 to March 31 – in order to protect people from disease and prevent the overcrowding of hospitals. County officials also strongly advise health care facilities to closely monitor local and internal data, and set masking requirements and other policies that best protect their patients and ensure ongoing access to critical services during periods when risk is high. The county's COVID dashboard will continue to operate and post data pertaining to the virus.
Santa Clara County has been at the forefront of the country's governmental response to COVID and was first in the nation to declare COVID-19 a public health emergency on Feb. 10, 2020, when there were two confirmed cases of the disease in the county and 13 confirmed nationwide.
