The current COVID-19 surge has put Sacramento County in a precarious position. The highly transmissible and evasive BA.5 subvariant is getting little resistance from a population that has largely abandoned basic precautions like mask-wearing that limited its spread. While deaths and hospitalizations are lower thanks to the availability of vaccines and treatments, we invite new risks by ignoring what we have learned after two-plus years and 1 million deaths.
Despite the general apathy about masks, the threat of future variants that may have even greater ability to evade vaccines should compel us to tamp down the spread of the virus before the fall. State leaders and the local officials who defer to them could enact sensible measures to reduce transmission without pursuing broad mandates that many people would likely oppose. Reviving mask requirements in certain environments, such as public transportation, large indoor gatherings, certain school settings and workplaces, could reduce transmission without restricting public life.
The power to require such precautions largely lies with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health. In an interview with The Bee’s Editorial Board, Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said she would comply with a statewide mandate but has no plan to follow in the footsteps of Los Angeles County, where a new mask mandate could be ordered this week. The state’s current guidance is simply a “strong recommendation” in favor of masking indoors.
