Mask Mandates Fail in California’s Bay Area as Coronavirus Hospitalizations Match 2020 Summer High

Coronavirus hospitalizations have matched the 2020 summer high in California’s Bay Area, despite the area re-imposing mask mandates — even among vaccinated individuals — this month.

ABC 7’s Bay Area COVID-19 Tracker shows the Bay Area’s case peak exceeding the figures seen in the summer of 2020, despite a year of mitigation measures and strategies, including the recent reimplementation of mask mandates.

According to the data, the Bay Area — which includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma — saw 2,484 daily coronavirus cases reported August 16, with the rolling average standing at 1.792/57 as of August 13.

This time last year, on August 15, 2020, the Bay Area reported 1,140 daily cases.

The chart also shows total hospitalizations also exceeding the numbers seen last summer, reporting 1,026 hospitalizations August 15, 2021, compared to 825 recorded on the summer’s peak on July 28, 2020.

Additionally, Bay Area deaths related to the Chinese coronavirus stood at ten August 16, 2021, while the rolling average stood at 9.43 exactly one year ago, on August 16, 2020.

San Francisco, specifically, also matched the number of hospitalizations recorded at the peak last summer. According to the government’s website, San Francisco recorded 111 coronavirus patients in acute care and intensive care as of August 12, 2021, matching the 111 recorded July 28, 2020.

These figures come despite mass vaccination efforts and the reinstitution of mask mandates in several Bay Area counties. These include San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma, as well as the city of Berkeley.

San Francisco has since taken it a step further, requiring businesses to discriminate against the unvaccinated by requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, and other indoor venues.