Mask Requirement To Return To Marin Hospitals, Nursing Facilities

SAN RAFAEL, CA — Marin County health leaders are reinstituting mask requirements inside hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in an effort to limit exposure to COVID-19, RSV, influenza, and other seasonal respiratory viruses.

The local health measure will take effect on Nov. 1 and follows similar moves in other Bay Area counties. Marin's will apply to all people within patient care areas except children under 6 and people with valid medical reasons to be exempt, the county said.

Some medical systems instituted the change ahead of the orders, including Kaiser Santa Rosa and USCF, with other counties implementing similar rules from November through March. Marin County will recommend masks — but not require them — in outpatient healthcare settings and medical clinics.

"Hospitals and skilled nursing facilities are unique," said Dr. Matt Willis, the Marin County Public Health Officer. "They bring other two critical groups — frontline healthcare workers and people who are more fragile medically — in a setting where viruses are more likely to spread."

According to the county, historic case rates and virus levels detected in wastewater illustrate a seasonal spike in RSV and influenza cases each year around November or December, followed by declines in the spring months. COVID-19 cases in Marin County have traditionally surged in the late fall.