Yolo County Public Health Officer Issues Health Order Requiring Masking Indoors Starting July 30

Good afternoon, all. Please see attached and below the new health order issued by Dr. Sisson of Yolo County. Masks are required indoors regardless of vaccination status, unless actively eating and drinking. No other restrictions have been implemented related to occupancy levels, indoor activities, etc. This is a mandate to wear a mask indoors in public.

Unfortunately, the presence of the Delta variant is escalating at concerning rates and there isn’t sufficient herd immunity to keep it contained. Fully vaccinated individuals can be asymptomatic carriers, and the unvaccinated are at higher risk for more serious illness. Fully vaccinated individuals who are immunocompromised are also at a greater risk for a serious breakthrough case than others, although at lower rates than the unvaccinated.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             Contact: Frank Schneegas

July 27, 2021                                                                                           Email:frank.schneegas@yolocounty.org

Yolo County Public Health Officer Issues Health Order Requiring Masking Indoors Starting July 30

(Woodland, CA) – Effective Friday July 30, face coverings will be required for everyone in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status in Yolo County. As a result of rapidly increasing case rates, testing positivity rates, and number of COVID-19-positive patients in hospitals, additional layers of protection are needed to slow the spread of COVID-19 amidst a fourth surge. Wearing a face covering in indoor public spaces reduces both the risk of getting and transmitting COVID-19 and does not limit business occupancy or operations.

Since the statewide transition to Beyond to Blueprint on June 15, Yolo County’s COVID-19 case rate has risen eight-fold from 1.2 to 10.0 per 100,000 residents and has been followed by increases in COVID-19-positive patients in hospitals. Rising case rates, testing positivity, and hospitalizations are largely due to the predominance of the highly infectious Delta variant, which is over twice as contagious and may double the risk of hospitalization compared to the original virus. Since mid-April, the UC Davis Genome Center has detected 158 cases of the Delta variant, which made up 88% of positive samples collected by Healthy Yolo Together during the week of July 18. The Yolo County Public Health Officer continues to recommend that fully vaccinated individuals get tested for COVID-19 following an exposure to someone with COVID-19, even if they have no symptoms.

The new Order will remain in effect until the case rate falls below 2.0 per 100,000 residents for 7 consecutive days. The same exemptions apply under the local universal indoor masking order as the State’s current face covering guidance and include persons under age 2 and persons with medical conditions or disabilities that prevent wearing a mask.

“With case rates as high as they are and rising, everybody needs to add an additional layer of protection in the form of a mask when they are indoors,” said Yolo County Public Health Officer, Dr. Aimee Sisson. “Vaccines are still the best protection there is against ending up in the hospital or dying from COVID-19, and I continue to strongly recommend that everybody who is eligible get vaccinated. Vaccines are safe, effective, and free. But the vaccine alone may not be enough to prevent mild illness or infection, and that is why everybody will now be required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. Putting on a mask is a simple act that will help keep business open and protect residents from the highly contagious Delta variant.”

Vaccines remain the most effective protection against severe disease from COVID-19. Unvaccinated persons are 6 and a half times more likely to get infected with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated persons, and nearly all hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Yolo hospitals are unvaccinated.

All residents 12 and older are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Yolo County continues to deliver and administer COVID-19 vaccine to residents throughout the county as part of the free call-to-order program designed to make COVID-19 vaccine accessible to all. Residents who would like to get vaccinated at their home or place of business can call (530) 666-8665 schedule an appointment to have vaccine delivered between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. To schedule an appointment in Spanish, residents can call (530) 379-3465. The program has been extended to run through August 31.

For more information about Yolo County’s COVID-19 vaccine program and opportunities to get vaccinated, visit www.yolocounty.org/coronavirus-vaccine. Residents can also call Yolo 2-1-1 for related information and resources. For additional updates follow Yolo County on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/YoloCounty/ or Twitter at: https://twitter.com/YoloCountyCA.

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Frank Schneegas
Communications Coordinator – Yolo CountyCOVID-19 Response Operations Center120 W. Main Street Suite E – Woodland, CA 95695

E: frank.schneegas@yolocounty.org