California will no longer require social distancing and allow businesses to work at full capacity when the state reopens statewide on June 15, the state’s top health official said on June 21.
Dramatically lower cases of infection and increasing vaccinations mean California can safely lift nearly all restrictions next month, said California Health and Human Services Director Mark Ghaly. The state of nearly 40 million people has already received nearly 35.5 million doses of the vaccine, and more than three-quarters of residents 65 and older have received at least one dose, he said.
“Those requirements of the past will no longer be necessary in the near future. At that point the state will end its color-coded four-tier system that limits activity based on the prevalence of the virus in each county.” Garry said restrictions on how many people can be on business premises at any one time, which has been a hallmark of the security program, will disappear. There will no longer be physical distance restrictions for attendees, customers and guests in the commercial sector.
That doesn’t mean masks can be stopped immediately, he said, and California will adjust its guidelines to correspond with national guidelines.
Officials have announced this week that they are waiting until mid-June to follow the new federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mask guidelines. The guidelines say that fully vaccinated people are safe in almost all situations without masks and at social distance. The federal guidelines state that everyone should still wear a mask in crowded indoor locations such as airplanes, buses, hospitals and prisons.
For indoor events with more than 5,000 attendees, the state will still require proof of vaccination or a negative test result within 72 hours. But Galli said such verification could be “through self-certification,” and health officials will provide details about the process.
State officials will also advise organizers of outdoor events with more than 10,000 people to require attendees to provide proof that they have been vaccinated or tested negative for the coronavirus (CCA virus).
Los Angeles County Legislator Kathryn Barger (D) said the three plus weeks before the changes take effect “will provide our businesses, organizations and residents with plenty of time to prepare for these changes.”
California also plans to follow federal CDC guidelines for domestic and overseas travel; voluntary quarantines for those returning to California will also be eliminated.
Democratic Governor Newsom has said for weeks that the state expects to generally lift most business and social restrictions by June 15.
In recent days, the number of newly reported infections in California has dropped to less than 1,000, with just over 1,300 people currently hospitalized with the new coronavirus, and the state’s current positive rate is just 1 percent.
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