California COVID-19 state of emergency ends Tuesday. Here’s what it means for you
Perhaps you heard California’s COVID-19 state of emergency is ending — or maybe you didn’t.
Tuesday marks almost three years since California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared COVID-19 a public health emergency, giving his administration broad power to issue mandates and use state funds to fight the virus.
What does the end of the emergency declaration mean for you?
“COVID-19 will not go away on February 28 when the local Public Health emergency declaration ends,” said Samantha Mott with Sacramento County’s Department of Health Services.
What changes?
The end to California’s COVID-19 state of emergency means the governmental approach to the pandemic changed. It doesn’t mean your life will be largely affected.
It allows for the phasing out of the last of regulations and executive orders issued since March 2020. Most were already finished by the time the state announced the sunset in October.
“California has the tools needed to continue fighting COVID-19 when the State of Emergency terminates at the end of February,” Newsom’s administration wrote in an October statement “including vaccines and boosters, testing, treatments and other mitigation measures like masking and indoor ventilation.”
The federal COVID-19 state of emergency will end May 11, which could effect COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations costs.
What happens next?
California will follow the SMARTER plan the state announced in February 2021, according to previous Sacramento Bee reporting. It follows the seven letters in the word “smarter” with S signifying shots, M for masks, A for awareness, R for readiness, T for testing, E for education and R for Rx treatment.
The endemic plan, as it was presented, aims to expand the state’s network of healthcare providers, update contact tracing protocols and boost its stockpile of supplies like masks, ventilators and prescriptions.
The end of the emergency does not mean the pandemic is over as COVID-19 continues to adaptive new variants.
Are we still in a pandemic? Do antivirals work? We ask a California infectious disease expert
Are masks required in California?
The ending to California’s COVID-19 state of emergency doesn’t disrupt statewide mask rules.
Face coverings are still required in certain settings including both healthcare facilities and long-term care centers, according to the state.
There are a few exemptions to the rule:
A medical condition
A mental health condition
People for whom seeing the mouth is essential for communication
People for whom wearing a mask would create a risk as they work
What is the COVID-19 transmission rate in California?
When Newsom announced California would break its COVID-19 state of emergency in October, the reason behind the shift was the decline in hospitalizations and deaths.
More than 11 million people contracted COVID-19 in California since the pandemic began nearly three years ago, according to the latest available state data, updated Thursday. More than 100,000 people died.
California’s daily average sits at more than 2,800 cases — or more than seven new cases per 100,000 people, as of Friday.
The data used in this interactive line graph, collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was last updated February 2023. Here is a look at California’s COVID-19 vaccination rates by county:
The majority of California counties are in a low risk level, according to the CDC, with eight in medium and zero counties in the high category.
The CDC has a low, medium and high rank to determine recommended actions people in a specific county should take. The rating depends on the area’s case rate, new COVID-19 hospital admissions and number of beds used by coronavirus patients.
