California Mask Mandate end 2/15/22

Everyone is required to wear masks in:

• Indoor public spaces (until February 15, 2022)
• Workplaces (until February 15, 2022)
• Public transit
• Healthcare settings (including long term care facilities)
• Adult and senior care facilities
• Indoors in K-12 schools, childcare, and other youth settings
• State and local correctional facilities and detention centers
• Homeless shelters, emergency shelters, and cooling centers

Masks are required for unvaccinated people and recommended for everyone in:

• Places of worship

Upgrade your mask

When cases are on the rise or your risk is higher, increase your protection by upgrading your mask.

Most effective:

• N95

More effective:

• KF94
• KN95
• Double mask
• Fitted surgical mask

Effective:

• Surgical mask

Least effective:

• Cloth mask with 3 or more layers

Whatever mask you wear, make sure it fits to your face closely and without gaps.

Learn more:

• Guidance for the Use of Face Masks
• Face Coverings Q&A
• Get the Most out of Masking
• Masks for Kids

Mask-wearing exemptions

The following individualsare exempt from wearing masks at all times:

• Children under two years old, due to the risk of suffocation.
• People with:
  • A medical condition, 
  • Mental health condition, or 
  • Disability that precludes wearing a mask. This includes:
    • Those for whom a mask could obstruct breathing
    • Who are unconscious or incapacitated
    • Unable to remove a mask without assistance
• People for whom seeing the mouth is essential for communication:
  • Hearing impaired, or
  • Those communicating with a person who is hearing impaired.
• People for whom wearing a mask would create a risk as they work, as determined by:
  • Local, state, or federal regulators, or
  • Workplace safety guidelines.

See complete mask exemptions details at CDPH’s Guidance for the Use of Face Masks.

Masking at work

• Masks are required indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
• Masks are not required outdoors (except during outbreaks), regardless of vaccination status. Workers should be trained for outdoor use of face coverings.
• Employers must provide unvaccinated employees with NIOSH-certified respirator masks for voluntary use when:
  • Working indoors, or
  • In a vehicle with others.
• Unvaccinated workers must wear masks in state offices.

For more information, see Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), the state public health officer order of July 26, 2021, and CalHR’s Vaccine Verification and Testing Requirements