California's new mask rules: What to know for tomorrow – SF Gate

Beginning June 15, California’s mask guidance will fall in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated individuals will be required to continue wearing face coverings in indoor public settings and indoor businesses (examples include retail, restaurants, theaters, family entertainment centers, meetings, and state and local government offices serving the public).

Fully vaccinated people can generally resume everyday activities without wearing a face covering starting Tuesday. They can go everywhere from the grocery store to a gym mask free, but there are a few exceptions.

5 places California will continue to require fully vaccinated people to wear masks

Masks will be required in some limited situations regardless of vaccination status, according to the California Department of Public Health, including:

1) On public transit including airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and hailed rides. Also, in transportation hubs, such as airports, bus terminals, marinas, train stations and subway stations.

2) Schools (kindergarten through 12th grade) and child care centers. (This guidance may change pending updated rules from the CDC.)

3) Health care and long-term care facilities.

4) Prisons.

5) Emergency or homeless shelters, cooling centers.

Businesses can require everyone to wear masks

The state is calling on businesses to have signage requiring unvaccinated people to wear face coverings and is giving businesses three options for enforcing unvaccinated people to wear face coverings:

1) Allowing people to “self attest” their vaccine status

2) Implementing a vaccine verification system

3) Requiring everyone, including fully vaccinated individuals, to wear masks

Workplace mask requirements are TBD

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board released a proposal for COVID-19 standards in the workplace Friday and will discuss them at a June 17 meeting that falls two days after the reopening.

The current rules require all workers — vaccinated or not — to remain masked and physically distanced on the job. The regulations apply in almost every workplace in the state, including workers in offices, factories and retail.

The revised workplace rules released Friday say that fully vaccinated employees would not need to wear masks, except in locations like classrooms and mass transit where they are required for everyone, or in the event of outbreaks.

Physical distancing requirements also would go away except for certain workers during major outbreaks.

The new rules under consideration are both generally consistent with the broader guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health that will take effect Tuesday.

See California’s updated guidance that will take effect June 15 here.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.