Covid-19 Policy updated July 9, 2022
In the CERT program, we strive to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. In that spirit, it is incumbent upon the CERT leadership to keep our volunteer community safe. Concerning COVID-19, the CERT Auxiliary aligns itself with the Santa Cruz County Department of Health and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and their policies.
Santa Cruz County lifted universal mask requirements for most indoor public settings Wednesday, February 16, 2022. Unvaccinated individuals over age 2 will continue to be required to wear masks in all indoor public settings. Effective March 1, 2022, the requirement that unvaccinated individuals mask in indoor public settings moved to a strong recommendation that all persons, regardless of vaccine status, continue indoor masking.
Therefore, prior to attending any CERT program (in-person training, meetings, exercises, activation, etc.) all persons wishing to attend must be vaccinated and show proof of vaccine status. For indoor activities, fully vaccinated and appropriately boosted CERT members do NOT need to be masked. The masking requirement is now optional for fully vaccinated and appropriately boosted CERT members. Proof of vaccination status needs only to be documented once as Yes or No. This information is then kept in a secure file with limited access. We strongly encourage people to wear a mask (surgical or better) when in close-quarter activities.
CERT members experiencing symptoms of, exposed to, or testing positive for COVID-19 must mask, isolate, and quarantine per California Department of Public Health guidance and CANNOT attend in-person CERT activities per California Department of Health guidance:
Please see the following guidelines from CDPH (See table #1): https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/Guidance-on-Isolation-and-Quarantine-for-COVID-19-Contact-Tracing.aspx