All Newport Beach residents must wear masks indoors for the next month, regardless of vaccination status, under a new statewide mask mandate that kicked in Wednesday ahead of Christmas and the new year. (Courtney Teague/Patch)NEWPORT BEACH, CA — All Newport Beach residents must wear masks indoors for the next month, regardless of vaccination status, under a new statewide mask mandate that kicked in Wednesday ahead of Christmas and the new year.Masks must be worn in all indoor public spaces through Jan. 15 as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surged post-Thanksgiving, the California Department of Public Health said. County health departments were welcome to establish even stricter rules.Find out what’s happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.Let’s go!According to the Orange County Health Care Agency, the indoor masking requirement is intended to help slow resurgence of rising cases and all Orange County residents are asked to comply to the reissued mask mandate.
“We support the State’s latest measures intended to bring additional protection to us all and our loved ones,” OC Health Care Agency Director and County Health Officer Clayton Chau said in a statement. “As I mentioned before, we have all the tools available to fight the spread of COVID-19 and its variants, through vaccination, testing and prevention measures including masking.”Find out what’s happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.Let’s go!In Orange County, the total number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 totaled up to 201 Thursday and the number of reported COVID-19 related deaths totaled seven people, according to OC Health Care Agency’s report. In Yorba Linda, in-person learning was canceled for all sixth graders at Travis Ranch School after “dozens” of students tested positive for COVID-19 and “hundreds” more were identified as close contacts, according to a news release posted by the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.
Due to the high number of students who have tested positive or been identified as close contacts within sixth grade, PYLUSD administrators made the decision to quarantine all sixth grade Travis Ranch students at home for the week of December 13-17, 2021,” PYLUSD officials wrote in the statement. “The district does not take this decision lightly and apologizes for the inconvenience; however, this determination was made with the safety of students, staff, and families as the absolute top priority,” They wrote.
The state health department also issued a travel advisory Monday to recommend that all travelers receive a COVID-19 test three to five days after their arrival in California. Officials updated requirements for events with 1,000 or more attendees to require guests to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test. The steps came as state health officials eyed an uptick in COVID-19-related cases and hospitalizations as the highly transmissible delta variant continued to spread. Just 39 cases of the recently identified omicron variant were confirmed in California as of Monday, but officials were also concerned about that variant’s high level of transmissibility. Since Thanksgiving, California’s seven-day average case rate increased by 47 percent, and hospitalizations increased by 14 percent as of Monday. “Our collective actions can save lives this holiday season,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, state health department director and public health officer, in a statement. “We are already seeing a higher level of transmission this winter and it is important to act now to prevent overwhelming our busy hospitals so we can provide quality health care to all Californians.” Health officials continued to stress the importance of vaccination. Unvaccinated Californians were seven times more likely to get COVID-19, 12.5 times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 and 13 times more likely to die after infection, according to statistics released Tuesday. Nearly eight in 10 Californians age 5 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Prior to the most recent state mask mandate, the state required mask use in the following spaces. K-12 schools, child care facilities and other places for youth. Public transit. Health care facilities. Adult care facilities and those for older people. Correctional facilities and detention centers. Homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers. The state did not indicate when it will lift mask requirements in these spaces after the temporary mask mandate expires. See also: CA’s Indoor Mask Mandate Returns As COVID-19 Cases Surge Q&A On California Public Health Department Mask Order Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.ThankReply (1)Share
