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California reopens today. What you need to know about masks, travel, and restaurants

It’s been a long 15 months, California.

The Golden State reopens today.

The color-coded tiers are gone.

Vaccinated residents don’t need to wear masks.

Restaurants and businesses from Humboldt Bay to the Mexico border can reopen without pandemic limitations

But, the virus is still out there, and you might want to keep a mask around.

Here’s what you need to know about masks, travel, where you can eat and more as California relaxes its COVID-19 rules.


TIERED SYSTEM ENDS

Today marks the end of the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” a color-tiered system that limited capacity at certain indoor non-essential businesses on a county-by-county basis based on the pervasiveness of the coronavirus outbreak in those communities. The state now moves beyond the blueprint, with no capacity limits or physical distancing restrictions.

YOU (MOSTLY) WON’T NEED A MASK

Starting today, fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks indoors in public places, a move in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people must wear face coverings indoors and in outdoor settings where they cannot maintain six feet of distance from others.

Vaccinated or not, everyone must continue to wear masks in certain indoor settings. Face coverings are required in some areas with populations particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling shelters. Masks are also required in K-12 campuses and other childcare facilities, as children under twelve aren’t yet eligible for vaccination.

Masks are also still required for “mega-events” that exceed 5,000 people indoors and 10,000 people outdoors, according to the California Department of Public Health. People attending indoor mega-events must also have proof of vaccination or a negative viral test before entry.

Although the state’s face covering guidelines are loosening up today, individual businesses and counties can still require masks indoors.

Indoor mask requirements also remain in place for people at work. Cal-OSHA is considering a mask update that Thursday that would end that requirement for vaccinated people. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday he’d issue an executive order to put those measures in place beginning June 17.


WHERE CAN YOU TRAVEL NOW?

Californians who are eager to travel again after a year of stay-at-home orders are now being encouraged by state officials to get in the car and help stimulate the tourism industry.

Newsom on Monday announced a new vaccine incentive program that would give Californians a “dream vacation” package to one of six locations within the state. Locations include San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles and the Ritz Carlton in Palm Springs.

Californians can travel anywhere domestically, but the CDC still recommends that unvaccinated people delay any travel until fully vaccinated.

Even if you are fully vaccinated, you still have to wear a mask on any public transportation, including planes, buses and trains and in any transportation hubs within the United States, such as airports.

If you’re traveling to another country, all passengers coming into the U.S. must have a negative viral test within three days before boarding a flight.

There are still many restrictions on international travel. Travel to and from Canada is banned at least through June 21, unless you have dual citizenship. Land crossing between the U.S. and Mexico is also still banned, but travel by plane is permitted.

Other countries have varied restrictions for Americans. Eight countries including Costa Rica and Romania have open borders without restrictions or requirements for visitors from the U.S. Another 106 countries are open with restrictions, such as a negative COVID-19 PCR test, proof of vaccination or quarantine upon arrival. You may be denied entry to the U.S. if you’ve traveled to a country with COVID-19 mutations, such as Brazil, the United Kingdom, India and South Africa.


CALIFORNIA IS STILL IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY

California’s stay-at-home order, county tier system and nearly all pandemic restrictions are lifted, but the state is still in a state of emergency under Newsom’s executive orders.

“This disease has not been extinguished. It’s not taking the summer months off,” Newsom said after the first vaccine lottery.

This is because the state-of-emergency order gives Newsom the power to continue programs that help mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

For instance, pandemic executive orders allowed for regulatory flexibility including waivers for manufacturing licenses for businesses to produce hand sanitizer. A number of other executive orders remain in place regarding evictions, tax collection deadlines and rules for public meetings.

The state of emergency also gives Newsom the flexibility to act quickly if things worsen in the state, by reinstating a mask mandate, for instance.


COVID-19 IS STILL HERE

California’s transmission rate is at an all-time low and the state’s vaccination rate is one of the highest in the country.

The state’s positivity rate was 0.8% over the past week, on par with positivity rates over the past month.

Vaccination rates continue to rise, with 18.4 million Californians fully vaccinated, or about 46.6% of the population, and 58.9% of the population is at least partially vaccinated. But there’s concern that some rural counties are lagging behind in the rate of population that’s fully vaccinated, like Lassen (18.6%), Kings (24.3%), Merced and Mariposa (both 27.6%).

Bay Area counties including Marin, San Francisco and Santa Clara lead the way in vaccination rates, with 67%, 64%, and 62% of their populations fully vaccinated, respectively.

Source: https://bit.ly/3gtlFz3