Chronicle reporters spent a day counting masks at Bay Area grocery stores on the day most state indoor masking rules lifted. Bay Area theater staff have found themselves in the crosshairs of audience members with different opinions about masking. Bay Area merchants are approaching the most recent changes to masking rules unevenly. On the first day that California’s mask mandate lifted, how did grocery shoppers respond to their new-found freedom? After spending two pandemic years online, S.F. Pride will return in person this year.
Omicron subvariant is on the rise, WHO says: An omicron subvariant that has previously been detected in the Bay Area is rising globally, the World Health Organization said. Reported cases of the omicron variant appear to be dropping in many parts of the world, prompting a broad relaxation of pandemic protection measures. But the subvariant, known as BA.2, is on the rise in several Asian countries. The subvariant does not appear to be more deadly than previous variants and does not yet appear to be more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines.
S.F. Pride sets in-person return after two pandemic years online: After two years of migrating online because of the pandemic, San Francisco Pride plans to return in full force for 2022, with a slate of in-person events scheduled for June 25-26, including its signature parade. Read the full story here.
We counted masks at grocery stores on the day California’s mandate lifted — here’s what we found: Freedom. That’s what many vaccinated people said they hoped for after California and all Bay Area counties except Santa Clara lifted most indoor mask mandates as coronavirus cases continue to decline. Read the full story here.
Moderna aims to have an omicron booster ready by August: Moderna will likely have an omicron-specific booster ready by August, but the biotech firm’s CEO said it is not clear yet if it will provide better protection than another dose of the existing vaccine. Researchers at the company are still gathering data to make the determination. “We believe a booster will be needed,” chief executive Stephane Bancel told Reuters on Wednesday. “I don’t know yet if it is going to be the existing vaccine, omicron-only, or bivalent: Omicron and existing vaccine, two mRNA in one dose.”
COVID survivors at higher risk of severe mental health issues: People who are infected with the coronavirus are more likely to suffer from a range of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, according to a large-scale study published Wednesday in the medical journal the BMJ. Comparing data from 153,848 people who tested positive to clinical data from nearly 12 million people with no history of infection, researchers from St. Louis found that the COVID-19 survivors were 40% more likely to be depressed or struggle with sleep issues, and 20% more likely to use illicit drugs within a year of infection. The authors said the results indicate that COVID is more than a respiratory virus. “It is a systemic virus that may provoke damage and clinical consequences in nearly every organ system — including mental health disorders and neurocognitive decline,” wrote Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center in St. Louis.
Bay Area shoppers react to the lifting of the mask mandate: To breathe again! And to not worry about getting sick — or worse, landing in the hospital. Such freedom is what many vaccinated people hoped for on Wednesday, when California and all Bay Area counties except Santa Clara lifted most indoor mask mandates as coronavirus cases continue to decline. Curious how people responded to their first day of mask freedom since mid-December, The Chronicle sent reporters to three groceries around the bay to find out. The verdict: most people were still wearing masks. Read the full story here.
Breed pleads for understanding around mask wearing: San Francisco Mayor London Breed said she knew that laxer rules around masking would not stop some people from wearing them — or some businesses from requiring them. “Please don’t get into arguments about whether or not you’re required to wear your mask,” Breed told reporters at a City Hall press conference. “It’s been a hard time for all of us. If a business asks you to wear a mask, wear your mask or choose another business. But let’s understand that this is challenging.” Breed acknowledged that “some of our regulations have been confusing” but urged people to remember “we’re in this together and we have a lot to be proud of. This is the home stretch,” she said. The mayor expressed hope that, if more people get vaccinated and boosted and hospitalizations stay low, mask mandates could be lifted in more settings such as schools and hospitals and jails. “Continue to be patient with us … and we will get through this,” she said.
Lifting mask mandate recasts Bay Area front-of-house staff as referees of warring audiences: Front-of-house staffers at theaters and concert halls used to be able to fall back on union rules or government orders in testy interactions with patrons about masks — the most contentious part of their pandemic-era duties. But as most of the Bay Area is poised to lift mask mandates on Wednesday, Feb. 16, venue staff are increasingly on their own. Read the full story here.
CDC to update mask guidance as early as next week: As many states move to ease indoor mask mandates for vaccinated people, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday they planned to update the agency’s federal recommendations as well. “We are looking at all of our guidance based not only on where we are right now in the pandemic but also on the tools we now have at our disposal — such as vaccines, boosters, tests and treatments — and our latest understanding of the disease,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said at a White House briefing. “We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.”
California’s essential workers faced brunt of pandemic deaths, study shows: In the first year of the pandemic, from March 2020 through Nov. 2021, essential workers in California suffered higher COVID-19 mortality rates compared to the rest of the state’s workforce, according to a new preprint study by researchers at UCSF, Stanford and UC Santa Cruz. Those who suffered the highest per-capita virus fatalities worked in agriculture (131.8 per 100,000), transportation/logistics (107.1), manufacturing (103.3), and facilities (101.1). The disparity continued even after the vaccine became widely available — and between July and Nov. 2021, emergency workers experienced higher per-capita COVID-19 mortality (113.7 per 100,000) than workers from any other sector. The gap was more pronounced for essential workers in counties with low vaccination rates, especially during the delta summer surge.
