Sonoma County Orders Masking In Healthcare Settings

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Sonoma County will require workers and visitors to wear masks in patient care areas of some health care facilities to protect patients.

Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Mia Shim issued the order Wednesday morning.

The order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1 and ends March 31, 2027, regardless of vaccination status.

The requirement covers skilled nursing facilities, portions of long-term care facilities where nursing care is provided, acute and non-acute rehabilitation facilities, infusion centers, and dialysis centers.

Workers and non-patients, including visitors and people accompanying patients, must mask at registration desks, in waiting rooms, examination rooms, therapy rooms, and other patient care areas.

“By wearing masks in these designated facilities, we provide essential protection for patients who face the highest risk of severe disease,” Shim said in an announcement.

The order covers paid workers and volunteers who have direct patient contact or work in patient care areas, including clerical employees, dietary workers, janitorial staff, medical professionals, and emergency medical personnel entering a facility.

Patient care areas also include occupied patient rooms that workers enter to deliver meals or perform custodial duties.

Surgical masks, KN95s, KF94s, and N95 respirators qualify under the order. Cloth masks, scarves, bandanas, and masks with unfiltered, one-way exhaust valves do not.

Covered facilities must enforce the requirement, post clearly visible signs at all entrances to patient care areas, and provide masks to personnel working where masks are required.

The order allows exemptions for people with diagnosed medical conditions, mental health conditions, or disabilities that prevent them from wearing masks.

It also allows exemptions when seeing a person’s mouth is essential for communication with someone who is hearing impaired, or when a mask would create a work-related safety risk under applicable regulations or workplace safety guidelines.

Cafeterias and gift shops fall outside the definition of patient care areas when they are not used to provide health care or access areas where health care services are provided.

Shim may adjust the order’s dates or expand the facilities it covers based on respiratory virus surveillance data.

The county would announce changes through a health advisory and a notice on its Department of Health Services website.

The order continues the county’s 2025 masking requirement for specified facilities serving patients at the highest risk. Sonoma County has issued seasonal health care masking orders since at least 2017.

Shim recommended that all health care facilities encourage workers to wear masks during respiratory virus season and stay current on influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations.

She also recommended updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines for everyone 6 months and older, along with RSV vaccines for those who qualify.

The county said these vaccines remain covered by insurance for California residents of all ages.

Shim encourages residents to wear masks in public indoor settings when local transmission levels are high. Residents can consult the county’s respiratory virus dashboard to assess current risk.

The order aims to reduce respiratory virus-related hospitalizations and deaths among high-risk patients, protect workers from illness, prevent transmission to patients, and preserve health care capacity during respiratory virus season.

Violating the order is a misdemeanor that may carry a fine, imprisonment, or both, according to the full health order.