California faces another month before unmasking begins

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials say the state isn't ready to follow the federal lead and unmask, at least for another month.

The state's health director announced Monday that California will require people to keep wearing masks and practice social distancing indoors until June 15 — the date when Gov. Gavin Newsom already said nearly all COVID-19 restrictions will be dropped if cases remain low.

The nation's most populous state needs more time before it will join many other states and allow fully vaccinated people to skip face coverings and distancing in virtually all situations, officials said.

People and businesses must adjust to the changes while the state continues its “relentless focus on delivering vaccines, particularly in underserved communities and those that were hard hit throughout this pandemic,” Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Monday.

More than a dozen other states, including neighboring Oregon, have already heeded a loosening of mask guidelines announced last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC guidelines say everyone — fully vaccinated or not — should still wear masks in crowded indoor locations such as airplanes, buses, hospitals and prisons.

The shifting ground of mask-wearing advice has confused and frustrated some Californians, who only a few weeks ago were told that that people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks outdoors unless they are at crowded gatherings.

Rafael Sanchez, 64, of San Diego called it “a scrambled egg message.” The retiree is fully vaccinated and said he only wears a mask because it's required at his favorite bagel shop and on the bus to get there.

Most of the 58 counties in California — including gigantic Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego — are...