Californians May Have To Wear Masks In The Workplace Until 2022

Los Angeles CA

30 May, 2021

8:04 PM

Description

CALIFORNIA — In mid-June, California will lift many of the coronavirus restrictions that residents have grown accustomed to. But the state's workforce regulators may recommend that employers hold onto masking and social distancing requirements until early next year, straying from Gov. Gavin Newsom's guidance. Cal/OSHA recommended on Friday that the state keep a July 31 deadline to update employer pandemic safety rules instead of lifting coronavirus restrictions on June 15 . The agency also released a draft of revised workplace rules. Under the proposed guidelines, fully vaccinated employees could forgo facemasks in a room where everyone else is vaccinated. But employers would need to supply N-95 masks for those who are not fully vaccinated. The extended masking requirement would also require employers to track vaccination status. The new rules would "create policies and procedures for two classes of people: vaccinated and non-vaccinated," Helen Cleary, director of the Phylmar Regulatory Roundtable, a coalition of large businesses, told the Associated Press. The changes to the proposal drew criticism from businesses and agricultural groups. "We are disappointed to see that this new revised draft does not correspond to the governor's June 15th opening, and that vaccinated individuals will have to continue to wear masks in the workplace," California Chamber of Commerce policy advocate Rob Moutrie said in an email to the AP. Groups argue that the mask requirement could cause a shortage of N95 masks at a time where the state is expected to enter another potentially devastating wildfire season, fanned by an ongoing drought and rising temperatures. The regulations imposed by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board apply in almost every workplace in the state. Pandemic rules would apply to all employees except those working from home. Also under the revised rules, until July 31, employees working indoors or those working outdoors at events characterized as "mega" events — with 10,000 people or more — would have to be separated by six feet unless they are wearing an N95, according to Cal/OSHA's draft. As the standard board's emergency hearing approaches next week, new regulations could take effect in mid-June. "If the state is going to mandate these types of regulations like the N-95 mask then there needs to be some sort of funding to that," Heath Flora, Assemblymember and Vice Chair of the States Committee on Labor and Employment, told ABC7. Cal/OSHA's board is scheduled to vote on their workplace safety guidelines proposal on Thursday. A little more than 50 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, according to state data posted Saturday. Some 12 percent, have been partially vaccinated. That leaves about 12 million unvaccinated, the state estimated on Thursday. With less than three weeks left until California reopens, the state's leaders are scrambling to get more residents vaccinated in time. In a major push to inoculate as many Californians as possible by the June reopening date, Newsom is offering a massive vaccination incentive — a chance to win $1.5 million or $50,000. It is the largest vaccination incentive program in the nation. "These are an opportunity to say thank you to those not only seeking to get vaccinated, as we move forward but also those that have been vaccinated," Newsom told reporters on Thursday. READ MORE: CA Offers Huge Vaccine Incentive: A Chance To Win $1.5 Million The state is still poised to open regardless ascCases plummeted dramatically several months ago and have remained low in stark contrast to the height of the state's winter coronavirus surge. The state's positivity rate has also consistently hovered around 1 percent, among the lowest rates in the country. "We are now at a point, given our metrics that we've been watching, California is at a place where we can begin to talk about moving beyond the blueprint," Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's health secretary said earlier this month. Lifting these restrictions will inevitably result in some increased transmissions, Ghaly said. But the health care system should be able to handle them, and local officials can still impose additional limits if there are outbreaks, he added. Health officials will also continue tracking whether virus mutations start breaking through vaccinations, which he said could prompt a return to restrictions. "We're going to be watching that very closely," he said. "But I think we are in a place statewide where we have a significant number of people vaccinated and protected." READ MORE: CA To Require Vaccination, Negative Test For Indoor 'Mega' Events California Coronavirus Data as of Sunday 3,684,388 confirmed cases to date. 1,079 newly recorded confirmed cases Saturday. 0.8% is the 7-day positivity rate. 65,586,172 tests have been conducted in California. 62,006 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded since the start of the pandemic. 37,437,314 vaccine shots have been administered statewide.