San Luis Obispo County to lift mask mandate Feb. 16
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. -- San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials announced on Wednesday that the county will lift its indoor mask mandate on Feb. 16 in alignment with the state masking policy.
“Masking is a simple and powerful tool that helped protect our local health care capacity during intense surges of COVID-19,” said Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein.
“Now that SLO County has weathered the worst of this Omicron surge, we can lift this requirement and look to our community to wear a mask when it’s most important to do so: in crowded indoor spaces, if you are at higher risk or close to others who are, if you feel unwell, or if you are in any of the settings still covered by state requirements. Throughout the pandemic, we have sought to balance public health measures with pre-pandemic normalcy—this change reflects another such moment.”
The county's mask mandate was put into effect on Sept. 21 in response to a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations fueled by the Delta variant and remained in place through the Omicron surge, according to Public Health spokeswoman Michelle Shoresman.
The state announced Monday that the statewide mask mandate would be lifted on Feb. 15.
However, the state health order still requires masking in indoor public places for people who are not vaccinated against the virus, and for everyone – regardless of vaccination status – in healthcare facilities, school, child care, homeless and emergency shelters, corrections and long-term care facilities, and public transit.
While the virus continues to spread in SLO County, Shoresman said that new cases have slowed and hospitalizations have remained stable.
As of Wednesday, 30 county residents were hospitalized for COVID-19, which is a decrease of 37 hospitalizations at the peak of the Omicron surge, Shoresman said.
