South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Palm Beach County mask rule extended
Palm Beach County has extended its mask mandate for one more month. But chances are you’ll have to keep covering your face in public for much longer than that.
Facial coverings may be more effective against the new coronavirus than previously thought, public health officials said last week. And because a vaccine against the virus may not be available until well into 2021 — possibly as late as spring or even summer — masks, social distancing, washing hands and quarantining are still the country’s best defense against COVID-19, they say.
Palm Beach County first passed the ordinance requiring masks in public places on June 25 in response to a staggering number of new infections in the state. The order sparked a furious debate from an angry and vocal crowd about public safety and personal freedom.
A Palm Beach County judge upheld the order in Ju l y, a rg u i n g t h a t t h e county was within its rights to require a mask to protect the public during a deadly pandemic. Those who challenged the mandate also failed to show that their constitutional rights were violated, the ruling said.
Commissioners renewed the order in July and again in August. After the extension on Monday, the order is supposed to automatically expire on Oct. 22, unless commissioners renew it again.
New cases of the coronavirus have been steadily declining in South Florida over the last few weeks. Monday’s total of new infections represents a drop from the total reported Sunday, which was 2,521 new cases, and it’s far lower than the daily totals last month, which routinely topped 6,000.
As cases have dropped, South Florida continues taking steps to reopen the economy. Broward and Miami-Dade counties moved into phase 2 of reopening last week, joining Palm Beach County in allowing more types of businesses to resume operations. Palm Beach County public school campuses reopened Monday. The Broward school district proposes reopening classrooms Oct. 5 and 12, in a plan to be discussed Tuesday by the school board.
It is unclear how school openings could affect case counts and the positivity rate. The last time South Florida was allowed a phase 2 reopening, new coronavirus cases surged well past previous rates.
Last week, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that most of the public will not have access to a vaccine against the new coronavirus until well into 2021 — possibly as late as spring or summer.
CDC Director Robert Redfield told a congressional hearing that health care workers, first responders and others at high risk would get the vaccine first, possibly in January.
In the same hearing, he touted the efficiency and importance of everyone wearing protective masks to stop the pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans, more than 13,000 of them in Florida. Redfield floated the possibility that a vaccine might be 70% effective at making those who take it immune.
“I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine,” Redfield said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.