Fully vaccinated residents will no longer have to wear face coverings during outdoor activities, such as pickleball or tennis, unless crowds are present.
California officials announced last week that residents will need to continue to comply with the state’s mask mandate through June 15, despite vaccination status or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent guidance on masks not being necessary indoors for those who have received the shots. Outdoors, folks without the vaccine should wear a mask when they can’t social distance, officials said. Village Management Services CEO Jeff Parker explained how this affects Laguna Woods Village residents, during a regular meeting of the Third Mutual board Tuesday, May 18. Fully vaccinated residents will no longer have to wear face coverings during outdoor activities, such as pickleball or tennis, unless crowds are present. All other restrictions — social distancing, masks in public and community spaces, a ban on indoor gatherings — remain in place. A fully open state and expiration of the four-tier tracking system, which determines the rate of reopening for businesses and public spaces, is scheduled for announcement June 15. Numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline across Orange County as it moves into yellow “minimal” tier status. Yellow tier eligibility sweeps across three main metrics: an adjusted daily rate of fewer than two new cases daily per 100,000 people, overall test positivity of less than 2 percent and a health-equity positivity of below 2.2 percent. The county met all thresholds for the first time last week when its case rate dropped to 1.
