California’s COVID Restriction Cut-Backs from June 15, 2021

On June 15, Governor Newson has terminated the March, 2020 “stay at home” and May, 2020 “blueprint for safer economy” executive orders that had imposed an all-county tier severity system for physical distancing, business capacity, and other limitations.

However, by Department of Public Health (DPH) order effective June 15, a lowered level COVID-related restrictions remain in place including:

● Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings, among other things requiring masks for unvaccinated persons in indoor public settings and businesses and masks for all persons on public transit, schools and other youth settings, healthcare settings, correctional facilities and homeless shelters;

● Requirements for Mega Events in the DPH “Beyond the Blueprint for Industries and Business Sectors” issue, i.e., large crowds greater than 5,000 (indoors) and 10,000 (outdoors) attendees, including proof of vaccination or pre-entry negative test; and

● Various COVID-related guidance memos for the opening and administration of schools and youth centers.

This latest DPH order also directs employers to comply with Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), updates effective June 17 and, for certain healthcare providers, Cal/OSHA’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases standard. For more on the ETS, see COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards FAQs. For example, employers must continue to provide face coverings to all employees and “for now, must continue to ensure that all employees comply with workplace COVID prevention standards regardless of vaccination status.”

The governor’s June 15 order re-affirms that local health officers remain free to establish and implement more restrictive or intensive measures than the statewide standards.

A number of counties have announced they are following the state’s guidelines: ● Amador, ● Butten, ● Calaveras, ● Colusa, ● Fresno, ● El Dorado, ● Kern, ● Kings, ● Lake, ● Madera, ● Marin, ● Mono, ● Napa, ● Nevada, ● Placer, ● Plumas, ● Riverside, ● San Joaquin, ● San Luis Obispo, ● Sacramento, ● San Mateo, ● Sierra, ● Siskiyou, ● Solano, ● Sonoma, ● Trinity, and ● Tulare.

Many of the localities with particular standards have been quick to issue updates. A few are electing to remain under the earlier “blueprint” tier system: ● Alpine, ● Del Norte, ● Glenn, ● Modoc, ● San Benito, ● Santa Cruz, ● Shasta, ● Stanislaus, ● Tehama, ● Ventura, and ● Yolo.

For specifics – and to our knowledge as of June 18:

City or County Effective DateExpiration Date Resources Alameda CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeAlameda County’s websiteAlpine CountyJune 14, 2021Until further noticeAlpine County’s websiteBerkeleyJune 15, 2021October 1, 2021City of Berkeley’s websiteContra Costa CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeContra Costa County’s websiteDel Norte CountyJune 14, 2021Until further noticeDel Norte County’s websiteGlenn CountyApril 27, 2021Until further noticeGlenn County’s websiteHumboldt CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeHumboldt County’s FAQsImperial CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeImperial County’s websiteInyo CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeInyo County’s websiteLong BeachJune 15, 2021Until further noticeLong Beach’s website Los Angeles City June 17, 2021Until further noticeLos Angeles City’s FAQsLos Angeles County(All unincorporated areas and cities in LA County except for Long Beach and Pasadena) June 15, 2021Until further noticeLos Angeles County’s websiteMariposa CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeMariposa County’s websiteMendocino CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeMendocino County’s websiteMerced CountyJune 16, 221Until further noticeMerced County’s websiteModoc CountyMarch 31, 2021Until further noticeModoc County ‘s websiteMono CountyJune 15, 2021October 1, 2021Mono County’s websiteOrange CountyJune 17, 2021Until further noticeOrange County’s websitePalm SpringsJune 15, 2021Until further noticePalm Springs’ websitePasadenaJune 15, 2021Until further noticePasadena’s websiteSan Benito CountyApril 6, 2021Until Further noticeSan Benito County ‘s websiteSan Bernardino CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeSan Bernardino County’s FAQsSan Diego CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeSan Diego County’s websiteSan Francisco City and CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeSan Francisco’s websiteSanta Barbara CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeSanta Barbara County ‘s websiteSanta Clara CountyMay 18, 2021Until further noticeSanta Clara County ’s websiteSanta Cruz CountyMay 18, 2021Until further noticeSanta Cruz County’s websiteShasta CountyJune 15, 2021Until further noticeShasta County’s websiteStanislaus CountyJune 8, 2021Until further noticeStanislaus County’s websiteTehama CountyMay 19, 2021Until further noticeTehama County’s websiteVentura CountyJune 1, 2021Until further noticeVentura County’s websiteYolo CountyMarch 23, 2021Until further noticeYolo County’s website

Thanks once again to our legal assistant Daniska Coronado for the compilation. One certainty: pandemic prevention requirements of varying strictness will continue to change, perhaps not always in the direction of reduced restrictions. Employers should confirm any particular limitations for their particular city or county locations.
For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Good Workplace Policy is Boss – Our Template Handbook & Forms for 2021 (May 28, 2021)
• What’s Even Newer in 2021 California Expands COVID-19 Paid – Detailed, Retroactive Requirements for Employers with 26 or More on Payroll (April 9, 2021)
• Pandemic Leave 2.0 – Feds Promote Expanded Paid Leave with Tax Credits, Through September 30, 2021 (March 25, 2021)

Tim Bowles
Daniska Coronado
June 18, 2021