The California State Capitol in Sacramento has toughened its mask policy after finding nine recent cases of Covid-19 in the Assembly, including four cases in people who had been fully vaccinated, legislative officials said. The Capitol’s mask mandate is being tightened at a time when the highly contagious Delta variant, with its enhanced capacity to sidestep vaccines, accounts for nearly a third of cases in the state and for more than half of cases in the country, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under the new policy, legislators and staff members, regardless of their vaccination status, must wear masks at all times in the Capitol, the Legislative Office Building and district offices. The policy, which went into effect on Tuesday, extends to legislators and staff members working in office suites. Under the previous policy, masks had only been required in public areas like hallways and hearing rooms.

Source: New York Times July 08, 2021 02:15 UTC