California mask requirements no longer include a statewide mandate for the general public. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has moved almost entirely to recommendations, leaving decisions about masking to individuals based on personal health and setting. Rules still bite in a handful of places: healthcare facilities that set their own policies, counties that issue stricter local orders, workplaces where a general safety duty applies, and specific criminal statutes about who can wear a mask and when. Where you are and what you’re doing determines what actually applies.
Statewide Rules for the General Public
CDPH lifted its universal indoor masking requirement in February 2022 and replaced it with a recommendation that people mask in indoor public settings like retail stores, restaurants, and theaters, regardless of vaccination status. The transit requirement was replaced by a recommendation in April 2022.1California Department of Public Health. Guidance for Face Coverings Those recommendations remain the baseline.
CDPH’s most recent general masking guidance, updated in October 2025, is situational. It recommends masking if you test positive for a respiratory virus, and suggests you consider an N95 or KN95 respirator if you’ve been exposed and plan to be around someone at high risk. People who are themselves high-risk are advised to consider a respirator in indoor public settings with poor ventilation or on public transportation.2California Department of Public Health. When and Why to Wear a Mask
Healthcare and Skilled Nursing Facilities
This is where mask rules are most likely to catch you off guard. There is no single statewide order, but many hospitals, clinics, and skilled nursing facilities still require masking under their own policies. CDPH frames masking in healthcare settings as something facilities “should consider” when developing plans based on their patient population, local respiratory virus activity, and layout.3California Department of Public Health. Guidance for Face Coverings as Source Control in Healthcare Settings
A CDPH All Facilities Letter issued in October 2025 for the 2025–26 respiratory virus season directs skilled nursing facilities to maintain source control masking policies using well-fitting facemasks or respirators.4California Department of Public Health. AFL 25-28 The practical result is that most skilled nursing facilities enforce masking for staff and visitors during the season.
Separately, Cal/OSHA’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases standard predates the pandemic and remains in effect. It requires healthcare and correctional facilities to use source control for patients or individuals suspected of having an airborne infectious disease, including masking the individual and requiring employees to use respiratory protection when source control isn’t possible.5California Department of Industrial Relations. Section 5199 – Aerosol Transmissible Diseases It covers a range of airborne diseases, not only COVID-19.
Workplace Rules After the Cal/OSHA COVID Regulations Expired
The Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations expired on February 3, 2025. Those rules had required masking after infection, masking during outbreaks, and employer-provided respirators on request. As of that date, there is no longer a specific set of regulatory requirements for COVID-19 prevention in the workplace.6California Department of Industrial Relations. Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Guidance and Resources
That is not the end of an employer’s obligations. Labor Code section 6400 still requires a safe and healthful workplace, and the Injury and Illness Prevention Program standard at Title 8, section 3203 requires employers to identify, evaluate, and correct hazards, including infectious disease hazards. If an employer determines that COVID-19 or another respiratory virus poses a workplace hazard, it must take steps to address it, which could include a masking policy, ventilation upgrades, or other controls.6California Department of Industrial Relations. Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Guidance and Resources
Employers must also allow employees to voluntarily wear a face covering, as long as doing so doesn’t create a safety hazard.1California Department of Public Health. Guidance for Face Coverings
County and City Health Orders
Local health officers in California have broad authority to require masking beyond the state’s baseline. CDPH has stated that local jurisdictions may implement additional requirements based on local circumstances, and when a local order conflicts with state guidance, the more protective rule controls.7California Department of Public Health. Face Coverings Questions and Answers
Los Angeles County is one example. Its Health Officer has issued an order requiring masking of personnel in healthcare and direct care settings, and the order specifies that the more protective rule applies when county and state provisions differ.8County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health. Order of the Health Officer No. 2023-02 Required Masking of Personnel in Healthcare and Direct Care Settings Other counties may have different rules or none. Check your county or city public health department before assuming state guidance is the whole picture.
Violating a local health officer order can carry misdemeanor penalties, with fines and, in some cases, jail time. The specifics depend on the order and the statute it’s issued under.
Your Right to Wear a Mask
Even where masking is not required, California protects your right to choose one. CDPH’s guidance requires businesses, venues, schools, and childcare facilities to allow anyone to wear a mask who wants to. No person can be prevented from wearing a mask as a condition of entering a business or participating in an activity.1California Department of Public Health. Guidance for Face Coverings
AB 1326, introduced in the 2025–2026 session, would codify an individual’s right to wear a “health mask” in any public place to protect personal or public health, covering communicable disease, air quality, and other health factors. It carves out narrow exceptions for situations requiring identification verification or where removing a mask is a genuine job requirement.9LegiScan. CA AB1326 2025-2026 Regular Session The bill is still moving through the Legislature.
When Wearing a Mask Is Restricted
Two laws limit mask-wearing in specific circumstances. Penal Code section 185 makes it a misdemeanor to wear a mask, false whiskers, or any personal disguise to evade identification while committing a crime, or for concealment, flight, or escape after being charged with, arrested for, or convicted of a crime.10California Legislative Information. California Penal Code Section 185 It targets criminal intent. Wearing a surgical mask for health reasons does not violate it.
SB 627, which took effect in January 2026, applies to law enforcement officers who cover their faces. An officer who covers their face loses the ability to assert qualified immunity in civil lawsuits for assault, battery, false arrest, and similar claims, and the minimum civil penalty for committing one of those offenses while masked is $10,000. The law exempts N95 or medical-grade masks worn to prevent infection and permits undercover operatives to wear masks.
Accommodations If a Mask Rule Applies to You
Where a mask requirement is in place, whether at a government facility, private business, or employer, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires reasonable accommodations for people who cannot wear a mask because of a disability. Options can include wearing a face shield instead of a fitted mask, curbside service, or appointments by phone or video.
A business can refuse an accommodation only if it would fundamentally alter its services, impose an undue burden, or if the individual poses a direct threat to others’ health or safety that cannot be mitigated. That direct-threat finding has to be based on an individualized assessment rather than assumptions about a disability.
Employees can also request religious accommodations to a workplace mask requirement under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The protection extends to anyone with sincerely held religious, ethical, or moral beliefs, and the employer and employee are expected to work through an interactive process to find a solution.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Religious Discrimination
Airports, Planes, and Public Transit
There is no federal requirement to wear a mask on airplanes, in airports, or on other public transportation. The federal transportation mask mandate expired in April 2022 and has not returned. CDC’s 2026 air travel guidance recommends a well-fitting N95 or similar respirator, particularly during boarding and deplaning, as a personal choice rather than a legal obligation.12Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Air Travel – CDC Yellow Book 2026 Individual airlines set their own policies.