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Santa Clara County residents grapple with indoor mask order while rest of Bay Area eases rules

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Published  February 16, 2022 6:46pm PST
Coronavirus in the Bay Area
KTVU FOX 2

Santa Clara County residents grapple with indoor mask order while rest of Bay Area eases rules

KTVU's Jesse Gary reports.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Even before leaving his Milpitas apartment complex, Santa Clara County resident Murtaza Khandwawala must make a choice. A right turn means living under indoor mask mandates. And a left turn means he's free of masking rules.

"It will depend on how in hurry I am. If I’m in a real hurry I’ll go to the left side, where I don’t need a mask. If I have time, and I’m just doing casual shopping, then I’ll go with a mask," said Khandwawala.

This type of mental calculus comes courtesy of the county line that intersects Milpitas Boulevard. Alameda County, which is to the north, no longer requires face masks indoors per state guidelines. But Santa Clara County, which is to the south, is continuing the practice.

Officials, Wednesday afternoon cited improved metrics, including the COVID case count. It’s now at 938 new cases per day, down from 1,400 on Feb. 11. However, indoor mask mandates remain.

"We’re still not at the level we need to be," said Dr. Ahmad Kamal, the Santa Clara County Health Preparedness director. "As a public health measure, we have to make sure that we preserve our healthcare system for everybody. Because if we find people are getting hospitalized, we actually can strain the system."

Experts said the impact of one county keeping masking mandates, while all other Bay Area counties have abandoned the practice, can cause confusion.

"Who’s gonna keep track of that on a daily basis? It’s really a big ask for people," said Prof. Kelly Snider, director of the San Jose State Univ. Real Estate Development Program. "Most people don’t expect to have to think through a checklist before they run to the mini-mart to get a gallon of milk for instance."

The cure for this kind of quandary, for some, might be the path of least resistance.

Fremont Chamber of Commerce officials said they see the divide as a possible driver for a post-COVID rebound.

"I think that this could play in our benefit in some ways," said Cindy Bonior, the CEO of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. "A robust community is wonderful. All boats rise in a rising tide."

And how quickly or slowly the bounce back happens could come down to which side of a line many residents find themselves.