By Roger Straw, August 6, 2021
[Editor: While Dr. Matyas is dead wrong in his opposition to renewing a public indoors mask mandate, he does raise important and perhaps alarming issues about our private socializing in homes and backyards. – R.S.]
Solano County health director defends decision to not implement indoor mask mandate
ABC7 News, By J.R. Stone, August 3, 2021 [BenIndy apologizes for ABC7’s lengthy introductory commercial message in its videos. See especially the FULL INTERVIEW video below.]
Napa, Lake and Solano counties recommend wearing masks indoors but aren’t requiring them.
“Just wear a mask,” said one store manager.
“I don’t think we still need to wear a mask,” said a store patron.
FULL INTERVIEW: Solano Co. health director defends not implementing mask mandate
The back and forth has started between those who believe indoor masking should be mandated for both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals and those who are against it.
At the Natural Grocery Company in El Cerrito, mask requirement signs will be put out before the store opens on Tuesday.
“Yes we have to go back to the mask-wearing but as I said before hopefully this time around we’ll have a better outcome,” said Natural Grocery Company store manager Claudia Barajas.
But that is Contra Costa County where there will be a mandate. In Solano County, there is no mandate, just a recommendation.
“The data doesn’t support the need for such a mandate,” said Solano County Health Director Dr. Bela Matyas. “This disease in our county is very clearly spreading during and through social events with people who are going to parties, barbecues, picnics, and campouts.” Dr. Matyas described some of the transmission events to be “sharing of food, sharing of cigarettes, playing beer pong, activities that are clearly going to transmit the virus very effectively and then there are larger gatherings where people are essentially on top of each other.”
Dr. Matyas says indoor public spaces are not where they have seen COVID-19 transmission, therefore he doesn’t believe an indoor mask mandate would help.
“I’ll use a metaphor, you know we’re filling up a tank with gas to fix a flat tire. It’s not going to fix the flat tire.”
But many we saw in Solano County were wearing masks.
“I’m not vaccinated so I’m going to keep my mask on,” said Ranyia Colbert.
Others made it known why they aren’t into the idea and in favor of Solano County decision not to implement a mandate.
“We were already vaccinated and I can’t really breathe when I wear a mask so for me it’s annoying to wear,” said Oriza Evangelista.
Dr. Matyas said Solano County would have a lot fewer COVID-19 cases if people wore a mask to parties and didn’t go to a party if they had any signs of being sick.
Masks now REQUIRED in Napa workplaces and indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status
Napa County is now the 8th of 9 Bay Area counties to require masks indoors.
Only Solano County remains unprotected by public health officials who prefer to ignore their responsibility to protect public health and safety during the delta variant’s increasing summer surge.
The Napa mandate can be downloaded here. Relevant introductory policy statement is as follows:
Summary: This Order requires all individuals to wear face coverings when indoors in workplaces and public settings, with limited exemptions, and recommends that businesses
make face coverings available to individuals entering the business.
Effective Date and Time: This Order becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. on August 6, 2021, and will continue in effect until the Health Officer rescinds, supersedes, or amends it in
writing.
Background: This Order is made in light of the recent significant increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Napa County, due primarily to the Delta variant of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Emerging evidence indicates that the Delta variant is more transmissible than prior variants of the virus, may cause more severe illness, and that even fully vaccinated individuals can spread the virus to others. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) now both recommend that all persons—regardless of vaccination status—wear face coverings indoors when with people outside of their household. Vaccination remains the best and most effective tool in preventing COVID-19 and its harms….”
The Napa mandate continues with more detailed information, including exceptions:
Indoor Face Covering Requirement: Regardless of vaccination status, all persons must wear face coverings at all times when indoors except:
in their own residence solely with members of their own household; or
when working in a closed room or office; or
when actively performing an activity that cannot be done while wearing a face covering, such as actively eating or drinking, swimming, showering in a fitness facility, or obtaining a medical or cosmetic service requiring temporary removal of a face covering to perform the service; or
Solano County Deputy Director of Health and Social Services Dr. Bela Matyas
Solano County Public Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas continues to refuse to issue a countywide mask mandate. His public comments have been dismissive, stating repeatedly that “The transmission that’s occurring [is] in people’s homes, backyards, camping.” “…it’s not an environment where masking recommendations are going to apply.”
In my opinion, Dr. Matyas is endangering the health and safety of residents of Solano County, most especially our unvaccinated children and those with compromised health. As increasing numbers of us catch the virus with mild symptoms, the virus is spread farther and farther, and inevitably reaches those whose symptoms will be devastating. This has got to stop – by all measures: renewed masking and social distancing as well as vastly increased vaccination.
I’m not sure, but there may be disagreement within the Solano County Public Health Department. Witness the County’s Facebook page, and website, where masking is highlighted in support of the California mandate. Pinned to the top of the Facebook page since July 29:
Also on July 29, Solano County Public Health updated its Coronavirus Updates and Resources page with the following details, in support of the California partial mask mandate.
Masks are required for all individuals in the following indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status:
On public transit[1] (examples: airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares) and in transportation hubs (examples: airport, bus terminal, marina, train station, seaport or other port, subway station, or any other area that provides transportation)
Emergency shelters[4] and cooling centers[5]Masks are required for all individuals, in the following indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status (and surgical masks are recommended):
Long Term Care Settings[9] & Adult and Senior Care Facilities[10]
Additionally, masks are required* for unvaccinated individuals in indoor public settings and businesses (examples: retail, restaurants, theaters, family entertainment centers, meetings, state and local government offices serving the public).
4. Exemptions: The following specific settings are exempt from face covering requirements:
Persons in a car alone or solely with members of their own household,
Persons who are working alone in a closed office or room,
Persons who are obtaining a medical or cosmetic service involving the nose or face for which temporary removal of the face covering is necessary to perform the service,
Workers who wear respiratory protection, or
Persons who are specifically exempted from wearing face coverings by other CDPH guidance.
· The following individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings at all times:
Persons younger than two years old. Very young children must not wear a face covering because of the risk of suffocation.
Persons with a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face covering. This includes persons with a medical condition for whom wearing a face covering could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a face covering without assistance.*
Persons who are hearing impaired, or communicating with a person who is hearing impaired, where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.
Persons for whom wearing a face covering would create a risk to the person related to their work, as determined by local, state, or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines.
*Note: Persons exempted from wearing a face covering due to a medical condition who are employed in a job involving regular contact with others must wear a non-restrictive alternative, such as a face shield with a drape on the bottom edge, as long as their condition permits it.
Three quarters of those infected in Provincetown were fully vaccinated! We can show no symptoms while passing it on to children and medically compromised individuals.
Masking again? Photo AFPAssociated Press, by Lindsey Tanner, Mike Stobbe and Philip Marcelo, July 30, 2021
In another dispiriting setback for the nation’s efforts to stamp out the coronavirus, scientists who studied a big COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts concluded that vaccinated people who got so-called breakthrough infections carried about the same amount of the coronavirus as those who did not get the shots.
Health officials on Friday released details of that research, which was key in this week’s decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the delta variant is fueling infection surges. The authors said the findings suggest that the CDC’s mask guidance should be expanded to include the entire country, even outside of hot spots.
The findings have the potential to upend past thinking about how the disease is spread. Previously, vaccinated people who got infected were thought to have low levels of virus and to be unlikely to pass it to others. But the new data shows that is not the case with the delta variant.
The outbreak in Provincetown — a seaside tourist spot on Cape Cod in the county with Massachusetts’ highest vaccination rate — has so far included more than 900 cases. About three-quarters of them were people who were fully vaccinated.
Travis Dagenais, who was among the many vaccinated people infected, said “throwing caution to the wind” and partying in crowds for long nights over the July Fourth holiday was a mistake in hindsight.
“The dominant public messaging has been that the vaccine means a return to normal,” the 35-year-old Boston resident said Thursday. “Unfortunately, I’ve now learned it’s a few steps toward normal, not the zero-to-sixty that we seem to have undertaken.”
Dagenais credits being vaccinated with easing the worst of the flu-like symptoms in a couple of days. He has recovered.
Like many states, Massachusetts lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in late May, ahead of the traditional Memorial Day start of the summer season. Provincetown this week reinstated an indoor mask requirement for everyone.
Leaked internal documents on breakthrough infections and the delta variant suggest the CDC may be considering other changes in advice on how the nation fights the coronavirus, such as recommending masks for everyone and requiring vaccines for doctors and other health workers.
The delta variant, first detected in India, causes infections that are more contagious than the common cold, flu, smallpox and the Ebola virus, and it is as infectious as chickenpox, according to the documents, which mentioned the Provincetown cases.
The documents were obtained by The Washington Post. As they note, COVID-19 vaccines are still highly effective against the delta variant at preventing serious illness and death.
The Provincetown outbreak and the documents highlight the enormous challenge the CDC faces in encouraging vaccination while acknowledging that breakthrough cases can occur and can be contagious but are uncommon.
The documents appear to be talking points for CDC staff to use with the public. One point advised: “Acknowledge the war has changed,” an apparent reference to deepening concern that many millions of vaccinated people could be a source of wide-ranging spread.
An agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the documents.
The White House on Friday defended its approach to rising virus cases and shifting public health guidelines, repeatedly deferred to the CDC while stressing the need for vaccinations.
“The most important takeaway is actually pretty simple. We need more people to get vaccinated,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Pressed about the changing guidance, Jean-Pierre repeatedly said, “We don’t make those types of decisions from here.”
People with breakthrough infections make up an increasing portion of hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths among COVID-19 patients, coinciding with the spread of the delta variant, according to the leaked documents.
Although experts generally agreed with the CDC’s revised indoor masking stance, some said the report on the Provincetown outbreak does not prove that vaccinated people are a significant source of new infections.
“There’s scientific plausibility for the (CDC) recommendation. But it’s not derived from this study,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher.
The CDC report is based on about 470 COVID-19 cases linked to the Provincetown festivities, which included densely packed indoor and outdoor holiday events at bars, restaurants, guest houses and rental homes.
Researchers ran tests on a portion of them and found roughly the same level of virus in those who were fully vaccinated and those who were not.
Three-quarters of the infections were in fully vaccinated individuals. Among those fully vaccinated, about 80% experienced symptoms with the most common being cough, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and fever.
Dagenais said he started to feel ill the evening he returned home and initially chalked it up to long nights of partying in packed Provincetown nightclubs.
But as the days wore on and the fever, chills, muscle aches and fatigue set in, he knew it was something more.
In the report, the measure researchers used to assess how much virus an infected person is carrying does not indicate whether they are actually transmitting the virus to other people, said Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan.
CDC officials say more data is coming. They are tracking breakthrough cases as part of much larger studies that involve following tens of thousands of vaccinated and unvaccinated people across the country over time.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Masks now REQUIRED for many indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status
https://www.facebook.com/SolanoCountyPH/
Solano County Public Health updated its Facebook page today in accordance with new guidance on masking issued yesterday by the California Public Health Department.
Solano Public Health on Facebook
The County’s message on Facebook, along with the image you see above is:
In accordance with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), as of July 28th masks are required in the following indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status.
The County’s Coronavirus Updates and Resources page has also been updated – in great detail, but without the clarity and emphasis displayed on its Facebook page.
If you scroll halfway down the page, you will find the following updated and detailed information. You will also notice that the messaging avoids taking responsibility at the County level for the new requirements, passing the mandate off on the State.
Masks are required for all individuals in the following indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status:
On public transit[1] (examples: airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares) and in transportation hubs (examples: airport, bus terminal, marina, train station, seaport or other port, subway station, or any other area that provides transportation)
Emergency shelters[4] and cooling centers[5]Masks are required for all individuals, in the following indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status (and surgical masks are recommended):
Long Term Care Settings[9] & Adult and Senior Care Facilities[10]
Additionally, masks are required* for unvaccinated individuals in indoor public settings and businesses (examples: retail, restaurants, theaters, family entertainment centers, meetings, state and local government offices serving the public).
4. Exemptions: The following specific settings are exempt from face covering requirements:
Persons in a car alone or solely with members of their own household,
Persons who are working alone in a closed office or room,
Persons who are obtaining a medical or cosmetic service involving the nose or face for which temporary removal of the face covering is necessary to perform the service,
Workers who wear respiratory protection, or
Persons who are specifically exempted from wearing face coverings by other CDPH guidance.
· The following individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings at all times:
Persons younger than two years old. Very young children must not wear a face covering because of the risk of suffocation.
Persons with a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face covering. This includes persons with a medical condition for whom wearing a face covering could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a face covering without assistance.*
Persons who are hearing impaired, or communicating with a person who is hearing impaired, where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.
Persons for whom wearing a face covering would create a risk to the person related to their work, as determined by local, state, or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines.
*Note: Persons exempted from wearing a face covering due to a medical condition who are employed in a job involving regular contact with others must wear a non-restrictive alternative, such as a face shield with a drape on the bottom edge, as long as their condition permits it.
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