The more things change, the more things stay the same.
On Wednesday, the day went into effect, the state Department of Public Health to emphasize that the rules 鈥� which are set to last through Jan. 15 鈥� apply to both public and private workplaces. Previously, most fully vaccinated workers to forgo masks.
Then the standards board of Cal/OSHA, the state鈥檚 workplace safety agency, voted Thursday to, among other things, eliminate some distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated workers. Under 鈥� which are slated to last from Jan. 14 to April 14 鈥� workers exposed to someone who鈥檚 tested positive for the virus must quarantine for two weeks (though asymptomatic vaccinated employees will have the option to wear masks and social distance), and companies must make free COVID tests available to them at work.
- Robert Moutrie, a California Chamber of Commerce policy advocate, told my colleague Grace Gedye: 鈥淲e have serious concerns about the implications of those changes, both in a world where rapid COVID-19 tests are becoming less available and where excluding more workers from the workplace 鈥� who are showing no symptoms and have been vaccinated 鈥� is going to make operational difficulties for many employers in California who are already short-staffed and struggling with a labor shortage.鈥�
But labor advocates say the changes will help protect workers: 鈥淯nfortunately, vaccination is not immunity, and vaccination doesn鈥檛 mean you can鈥檛 spread the disease,鈥� Stephen Knight, executive director of Worksafe, told Grace.
Indeed, California health officials are bracing for what , called a 鈥渄eluge of omicron.鈥� COVID hospitalizations have spiked 15% statewide in the last three weeks, from 3,439 patients on Nov. 23 to 3,971 on Wednesday, . And, as more COVID cases are confirmed across the state and uncertainty continues to swirl around the omicron variant, cancellations are pouring in.
Moved online: A massive January , which would have injected much-needed dollars into the city鈥檚 hard-hit hospitality sector.
Delayed indefinitely: Apple鈥檚 .
Pushed to Zoom: Stanford鈥檚 鈥� and instruction for at Travis Ranch School in Yorba Linda, which was recently hit with a COVID outbreak.
Cancelled: for the Sacramento Kings basketball team, which also amid reports that multiple players had tested positive.
- : 鈥淓very time we鈥檝e gotten more flexible, we鈥檝e gone in the wrong direction. When we try to be too flexible, people die.鈥�
The coronavirus bottom line: As of Wednesday, California had 4,901,895 confirmed cases (+0.1% from previous day) and 74,879 deaths (+0.1% from previous day), according to . CalMatters is also tracking .
California 61,992,176 vaccine doses, and 69.9% of eligible Californians are .
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.