MENDOCINO CO., 10/1/26 — If you work in a Mendocino County hospital, clinic or nursing home and skip this year’s flu shot, you’ll have to wear a mask around patients starting Nov. 1.
Deputy Health Officer Dr. Charles Evans issued the order Wednesday under California Health and Safety Code Section 120175. It runs through April 30, 2027, unless the health officer rescinds, replaces or amends it in writing.
Evans also recommended that every healthcare worker in a patient care area wear a mask during flu season, vaccinated or not. That part is a recommendation, not a requirement.
The order also requires healthcare facilities to adopt policies that strongly recommend up-to-date flu shots for their staff, keep masks on hand for workers and write a plan to enforce the mask rule.
Mendocino County has required healthcare workers to get vaccinated or mask every flu season since 2017-18. According to the order, rates of viral infections that can cause severe respiratory illness climb in the county each year between late fall and spring. Infants, older adults and people with weakened immune systems face the greatest risk of severe disease and death.
Who must follow the order
The order covers paid and unpaid workers in indoor settings where people receive healthcare or where patients have access for any purpose. That includes nurses, nursing assistants, physicians, technicians, therapists, phlebotomists, pharmacists, students, trainees and contract staff. It also covers workers who don’t treat patients directly but could be exposed to infections at work.
Where it applies
Covered facilities include hospitals, clinics, surgery centers, infusion and dialysis centers, other inpatient and outpatient sites, skilled nursing facilities and the parts of long-term care facilities that provide nursing care.
Inside those buildings, the mask rule applies in patient care areas: lobbies, waiting rooms, exam rooms, patient wings, elevators and hallways patients use. It doesn’t apply in cafeterias, break rooms or gift shops.
What counts as a mask
The county strongly recommends N95 or KN95 masks. If those aren’t available, a tight-fitting surgical mask works. The order also accepts K94 masks.
Scarves, ski masks, balaclavas, bandanas, turtlenecks, collars, cloth masks and masks with an unfiltered one-way exhaust valve don’t count.
Workers don’t have to mask if:
- a diagnosed medical condition, mental health condition or disability keeps them from wearing one, including a condition where a mask could obstruct breathing;
- they have a hearing impairment, or are talking with someone who does, and need to see the speaker’s mouth to communicate; or
- a mask would put them at risk on the job, as determined by local, state or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines.
Copies of the order are available at Mendocino County Public Health, 1120 S. Dora St. in Ukiah, and on the Public Health website here. Anyone can request a copy. Questions go to the county’s Communicable Disease program at 707-472-2713.
Absurd, and these are the folks managing your tax money.
Stupid fuck! Masks don’t stop viruses! Flu shots don’t work !