With COVID back on the rise, some cities, agencies mulling a return of health mandates San Jose reinstated indoor mask requirement for all its employees ‘out of an abundance of caution’ through at least May 20 Grace Hase The Mercury News

As the Bay Area braces for yet another COVID-19 surge, a few cities and agencies are reinstating indoor mask mandates as the region continues debating the worth of a patchwork of coronavirus-related health orders.

Here we go again: California coronavirus cases rising. Is a new wave coming?

Los Angeles Times:

After months of declining numbers, California has recorded a nearly 30% increase in coronavirus cases over the last week along with smaller rises in hospitalizations, causing some health officials to suspect that the state is headed into a new pandemic wave.

The increase coincides with a loosening of COVID-19 restrictions such as mask mandates and vaccine verification rules as well as the rise of new subvariants of the highly transmissible Omicron strain. The question now is how much higher cases will go and whether new government intervention will be needed.

“We’re expecting a small surge that may mirror something that we saw in Delta last summer, in early July, but it’s happening now, in May,” Dr. Curtis Chan, deputy health officer for San Mateo County, said in an interview. ...

Ruby Princess cruise ship docked in San Francisco with 143 cases of COVID-19 CDC investigating Princess Cruise ship after people tested positive for the virus following voyages in January and March. cbsmoneywatch

For the third time this year, the same Princess Cruise Lines ship has docked in California with passengers who tested positive for COVID-19.