Californians must wear masks when not at home
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health issued a mandate on Thursday requiring all residents of the state to wear face masks when outside the home, a decision that superseded county health officials around California.
Just two days prior to the mandate, Dr. Maggie Park, San Joaquin County Public Health Officer, told county leaders that she would not require residents to wear masks as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to spike. Rather, Park told the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors that she would implement a campaign more focused on recommending face covering and the importance of social distancing.
It is unknown how the state requirement will be enforced or if Californians will be cited or penalized f they do not comply with the order.
“Simply put, we are seeing too many people with faces uncovered, putting at risk the real progress we have made in fighting this disease,” Newsom said in statement Thursday. “California’s strategy to restart the economy and get people back to work will only be successful if people act safely and follow health recommendations. That means wearing a face covering, washing your hands and practicing social distancing.”
Residents across the state will be required to wear face coverings inside a public space or waiting in line to enter one; obtaining services from the health care sector; waiting for or riding on public transportation or
in a taxi or rideshare; driving or operating public transportation or rideshare; and while outdoors when social distancing from people not part of their household.
In addition, residents will be required to wear coverings at work when interacting with the public; wherever food is prepared; working or walking through common areas; or in any room where they are unable to maintain social distancing.
The mandate exempts children younger than 2 years old; people with a medical, mental health or developmental disability that prevents them from wearing a face covering; restaurant patrons who are eating or drinking; and residents who engage in outdoor recreation and can maintain social distancing.
Jeff Hood, spokesman for the City of Lodi, said staff will be complying with the order, and when city offices open in the near future, all visitors will be required to wear coverings when visiting.
“Wearing masks has been proven to limit the spread of COVID-19, and obviously we are going to comply with the order,” he said. “Hopefully this order will be successful.”
The city posted a link to the latest order on its Facebook page, and was met with several Lodians expressing opposition to wearing face coverings.
“Yeah the science they reference suggests masking could help reduce the transmission,” Jenny Miller commented. “They don’t say how much it could reduce, or that it surely does, and the science does not state it will, only suggests it. That’s not science, that’s opinion.”
Dr. Scott Neeley, the vice president and chief medical officer at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, said wearing face coverings is more about community safety than it is about scientific evidence.
“If everyone wears a mask, transmission of this disease will be slower, and it will reduce the mortality rate in the county,” he said. “It will also protect the most vulnerable members of our community, as well as preserve the capacity of our health care system.”
Neeley said that if the amount of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and treatments in critical care units continue to rise, the county may not be able to completely reopen again.
County leaders do not want to shut it down again, but the only way to prevent it from happening, he said, was to work together and adhere to the state’s latest order.
Neeley said it was disheartening to see the issue of wearing protective face coverings become political and divide not only the county, but the entire nation.
“There should only be one side where we are all keeping people safe,” he said. “Masks aren’t about protecting yourself, it’s about protecting people around you. You could be asymptomatic and unknowingly spread the disease if you choose not to wear one.”
Newsom’s order comes a week after Orange County rescinded a requirement that its residents wear masks. Fresno and San Bernadino counties have also rescinded face mask requirements due to public opposition, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The two counties were also placed on the CDPH’s COVID-19 watch list due to an increase in COVID-19 transmission.
San Bernadino County had been removed from the list as of Thursday.
However, the counties of Contra Costa, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Tulare all remain. All the counties except Imperial had been approved for a variance of attestation to move further along Newsom’s Roadmap to Recovery stage 2 earlier this month.
San Joaquin County was placed on the list due to an increase in hospitalizations and limited hospital capacity on June 7, just two weeks after being approved for attestation.
There had been 752 cases of COVID-19 in the county by May 21 when its attestation was approved. On Thursday, the county reported a total of 1,927 cases. There were 47 people in the hospital on Thursday, with 646 being admitted over the last two weeks.
The county reported that 79 cases had been reported in Lodi since the pandemic began.
Park on Tuesday also told supervisors that closing down the county a second time would not be beneficial, and had no plans to do so.
“Science shows that face coverings and masks work,” Newsom said in Thursday’s statement. “They are critical to keeping those who are around you safe, keeping businesses open and restarting our economy.”
The complete guidance text can be viewed online at www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR20128.aspx.