California to no longer require masking in health care, 'high-risk' settings

LOS ANGELES - California's health department has announced it will roll back its mask mandate at hospitals.

According to an announcement from the California Department of Public Health Friday, masks will no longer be required in indoor high-risk and health care settings. Effective April 3, those going in and out of hospitals, medical offices, long-term care, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, emergency evacuation centers and places designated for cooling and warming stations will no longer be mandated to mask up.

Also starting April 3, California will no longer require vaccination for health care workers. This includes those in adult care, direct care, correctional facilities and detention centers. The state's health department did not say what is going to happen to those previously impacted by the vaccine mandate.

Friday's news comes as California had relaxed its mask mandates for other indoor settings since March 2022. Since lifting the statewide mask mandate, Los Angeles County Public Health had previously warned in the Winter of 2022 that indoor masking may return if COVID cases continue to go up. Since the Dec. 2022 warning, county health officials have not come forward to echo that warning as hospitalization rate for the area have stabilized or trended downward since January 2023.

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Following Friday's announcement, the Los Angeles County Public Health issued the following statement: 

"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is reviewing the revised guidelines the state released today and will have additional information next week."