Contra Costa County issues indoor business vaccination, testing order

Customers and workers at many indoor Contra Costa County businesses will soon have to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test.

The new health order announced Tuesday will be effective Sept. 22 and applies to businesses where there is elevated risk of virus transmission, including restaurants, bars, gyms, entertainment venues and other indoor businesses.

Customers will have to show photo ID and proof of vaccination with their physical vaccine record card, a picture of their card, healthcare provider documentation or a digital vaccine record provided by the state. In lieu of vaccination proof, customers can provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within the prior three days.

The health order will also require that employees of impacted businesses provide proof of vaccination by Nov. 1 or be subject to weekly testing.

The new requirements align with similar orders already issued in San Francisco and Berkeley, and comes as the county reels over a recent case surge and highest death totals since March. According to county health officials, 35 people died from Covid-19 between Aug. 25 and Sept. 7. In the new health order announcement, Contra Costa Health Services reports that 95.9 percent of the county’s 906 Covid-19 deaths have been among the unvaccinated.

More than a fifth of the county’s eligible population — aged 12 and older — remain unvaccinated as of Tuesday afternoon.

There are currently 154 Covid-19 patients hospitalized countywide, including 52 in ICU beds.

Visit the county site here for more details about the order or to find vaccination access. People can download digital vaccination records to smartphones by visiting the California Department of Public Health site here.