Berkeley Residents Not So Eager To Ditch Masks: Report

BERKELEY, CA — Bay Area residents who during the pandemic diligently donned their masks while visiting parts of the country where the politics — and along with that, attitudes towards mask-wearing — are very different, were likely to encounter some strange looks while among those who flouted the recommendations of mainstream science.

If Day 1 of the state’s reopening as described in a New York Times report is any indication, similar exchanges are likely to occur in the Bay Area.

But this time, it’s the residents flashing puzzled looks at those choosing not to don facial coverings who are out of step with the recommendations of mainstream science.

The Bay Area was the nation’s first to go under shelter orders nearly 15 months ago and its residents have been among the nation’s most adherent to coronavirus rules and are among the nation’s most vaccinated.

And even though the state is no longer requiring fully vaccinated people to wear masks in nearly all settings — a move that follows CDC guidance — Berkeley residents don’t appear too eager to ditch them according to the report.

Unscientific a survey as it may have been, the Times report found most shoppers at the Berkeley Bowl on Tuesday continued wearing facial coverings on the first day they weren't required to do so.

“It’s the social pressure of everyone else doing it,” Caeleigh MacNeil, one of the few shoppers, who wasn’t wearing a mask at the produce megastore told the Times.

Read more in The New York Times

Do you plan to continue wearing facial coverings in indoor settings in which you are no longer required to if fully vaccinated? Please let us know in our comments section.