NEWS: When California Will Enforce the Outdoor Face Mask Mandate

Last week, the CDC issued new guidance for fully vaccinated individuals, stating that those who are immune against COVID-19 no longer need to wear face masks indoors our outdoors.

New Signs in Disney World from May 2021

Since then, several state and local government agencies have updated their health and safety guidelines to align with the latest CDC guidance, and theme parks like Disney World and Universal Orlando have updated their face mask mandates to reflect these changes.

KRON 4 has just reported that the state of California will wait and keep their public mask mandate in place for now. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly stated in a press conference today that the state is “waiting to give time for more people to become fully vaccinated. The state is still working through how to verify who is vaccinated and who isn’t.”

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Dr. Ghaly released a statement following the news conference that says, “On June 15, California plans to implement the CDC’s guidelines around masking to allow fully vaccinated Californians to go without a mask in most indoor settings. This four-week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change while we continue our relentless focus on delivering vaccines, particularly in underserved communities.”

California Adventure

California previously announced that it intends to fully reopen the state and lift most of their mandates on June 15th, where they will then move beyond what they have referred to as their “blueprint” for reopening the state. The announcement today, according to KRON 4, indicates that California is sticking to its June 15th date and that the public may expect the face mask mandate to be lifted at that time.

Sign outlining Disneyland’s face mask mandate

In the meantime, Dr. Ghaly reminds the public in his statement that “face coverings are no longer required outdoors except at crowded events, and for unvaccinated people, when physical distancing cannot be maintained.” We’ll continue to keep an eye on the state of California and we will let you know of any updates that come out of their public health mandates!