MASKS BACK UP: Humboldt Public Health Joins 25 Other Counties to Recommend Masking Indoors, Regardless of Vaccination Status - Lost Coast Outpost

Humboldt County joins 25 other California counties in recommending that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask indoors in public places.

As the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 is increasingly circulating locally, masking indoors is an extra precautionary measure for those who are fully vaccinated and ensures easy verification that all unvaccinated people are masked in those settings.

Locally, the Delta variant made up 25% of sequenced samples in June, and health officials anticipate that number will increase.

The Delta variant represents more than 50% of sequenced COVID-positive test samples statewide, according to the most recent genomic sequencing data from the California Department of Public Health.

Federal health officials have recently reported that more than 97% of people hospitalized nationwide for COVID-19 and more than 99% of those who died were unvaccinated.

People are recommended to wear masks indoors in settings like grocery or retail stores, theaters and family entertainment centers, even if they are fully vaccinated, as an added layer of protection for unvaccinated residents, including those with compromised immune systems and children under 12 who can’t yet get vaccinated.

Humboldt County Public Health Director Sofia Pereira said, “We still have many unvaccinated people in our community who are vulnerable to serious illness from this virus.