Mask mandates are coming back to the Bay Area. Here’s where

Some Bay Area counties will once again require face masks to be worn by caregivers in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care facilities during the winter virus season, and some places also want patients or visitors to mask up.

Masks are coming back to the Bay Area — for a limited time.

As the annual cold and flu season gears up, several Bay Area counties have recently issued local health orders requiring face masks to be worn in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care facilities starting Nov. 1 until either March 31 or April 30, 2025.

The orders are aimed at reducing the spread of flu, COVID and other respiratory viruses in medical settings during the winter virus season that typically spans late fall to early spring.

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For the most part, the orders apply to health care workers only and echo similar local health orders announced last year for the 2023-24 winter virus season. But two local jurisdictions, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are also extending the requirement to visitors — and Santa Clara County is also asking patients to mask up.

With most COVID-era mandates now in the rearview mirror, these mask requirements — though limited in scope and duration — are one of the few lasting legacies of the pandemic.

Here is a breakdown of what each Bay Area county is requiring:

SAN FRANCISCO has not issued a health order on masking during this winter respiratory virus season. Last year, it required health care workers to wear masks from Nov. 1 to April 30.

ALAMEDA COUNTY on Sept. 26 issued a health order that requires staff at health care facilities to wear masks from Nov. 1 to March 31. The order applies to the county and the city of Berkeley. Health care facilities include hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and infusion centers.

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Under the order, staff must mask in areas where medical care is delivered to inpatients or residents, but not outpatients. This means health care personnel must wear masks in patient and resident rooms, inpatient radiology facilities, surgical suites for inpatients and emergency departments. They do not have to mask in outpatient clinics, outpatient labs or other facilities serving outpatients.

MARIN COUNTY does not plan to issue a seasonal mask mandate this year.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY on Sept. 26 issued a health order mandating health care personnel to mask from Nov. 1 to March 31, 2025. It applies to hospitals, dialysis centers, infusion centers, chemotherapy centers and skilled nursing facilities anytime personnel are in an enclosed space with patients.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY will require all people inside health care facilities — workers, as well as patients and visitors — to wear masks while in patient care areas from Nov. 1 to March 31, 2025. There will be an exception for children under age 2 and people with medical conditions for whom wearing a mask could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove a mask without assistance.

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SAN MATEO COUNTY on Oct. 1 issued a health order requiring workers at skilled nursing facilities to wear masks from Nov. 1 until March 31. Visitors must also wear masks. Residents do not have to.

Health care workers and visitors must wear masks while in areas that patients frequently access, including patients’ rooms, lobbies, hallways, waiting rooms, exam rooms, elevators and hallways used by patients — but not in administrative offices, gift shops or cafeterias.

NAPA COUNTY on Oct. 1 issued a health order requiring masking for health care workers at inpatient facilities, including hospitals and inpatient psychiatric facilities, from Nov. 1 to March 31. It also applies to workers in high-risk outpatient areas like dialysis and infusion centers and skilled nursing facilities.

SONOMA COUNTY does not plan to issue a mask-related health order this respiratory season.

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SOLANO COUNTY has not issued a health order on masking.

Reach Catherine Ho: [email protected]