Fully vaccinated people required to wear masks again at Harbor Justice Center

For at least the next two weeks, people entering the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach will be required to wear a mask or facial covering regardless of their vaccination status.

Court officials issued a statement Tuesday that said the decision was made out of an “abundance of caution” after two COVID-19 tests at the facility returned positive. Kostas Kalaitzidis, a spokesman for Orange County Superior Court, said in an interview Wednesday that the court received notice within the last few days of the positive test results.

Kalaitzidis did not confirm when or who — whether it was an employee, judge, inmate or member of the public — tested positive.

“One case is not a huge problem. But when we had the second, we had to do something about it,” said Kalaitzidis. “It doesn’t matter to the court whether it was an employee or a judge or inmate or member of the public. To us, we need to protect everybody. We had two cases. Two cases are two cases too many.”

The mandate will remain in place for two weeks as of Wednesday or until superseded by a different update. It only affects the Harbor Justice Center, Kalaitzidis said, and all other courthouses remain open to the public and do not require masks for those vaccinated.

Court officials initially modified their COVID-19 precautions in July.

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