County facilities still require masks
Board chairman: it’s a health issue, not a political decision
Yuma County requires employees and visitors to continue wearing masks in all county facilities.
Tony Reyes, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, explained that he chose not to challenge the governor when he lifted all restrictions on businesses and nullified local mask mandates.
Reyes decided to keep the requirement for county employees and visitors, but he explained that it only applies to county buildings, which he has the authority to do.
He also wanted to make sure citizens knew it’s his decision only. “The mandate wasn’t set by the board, it was set by the chairman.”
Reyes also noted that the emergency declaration is still in place. “The governor hasn’t canceled his emergency, I haven’t canceled my emergency.” He added: “The only thing that’s left is the ability the county has as a county government to restrict access to (county) buildings, and it would apply to county buildings only.”
In his view, Reyes said, it’s a health issue, not a political issue. He pointed out that although the COVID-19 numbers continue to trend downward, there is still reason to be cautious, particularly with a number of variants circulating in Arizona.
In addition, the chairman said, he doesn’t believe the reported positive cases are a true reflection of what’s happening with the virus. “When I see the number of positive numbers, I believe we’re not testing as much so therefore we’re getting very low numbers,” he said.
He explained why residents might not be testing. “People are sort of tired, the vaccine is doing its job, not taking into account that some people already had COVID, so they already have some natural immunity.”
Reyes asked Diana Gomez, director of public health, for her opinion. Gomez agreed that requiring masks is a health
precaution, rather than a restriction. Although the community is making progress, “we still have a ways to go,” she said, adding that the variants are more contagious and they’re affecting younger people.
Some organizations and businesses have opted to require masks because people might be infected but asymptomatic and spreading the disease, she said. “Why that makes sense for those entities and possibly for us that interact with the public on multiple occasions on a regular basis is because we have no way of knowing who’s been vaccinated. We have multiple exposures. As a visitor to a restaurant, as a visitor to a movie theater, as a visitor to a grocery store, I am in and out. The people who work there for their entire shift are exposed to multiple people throughout the course of their entire workday without knowing if they have been exposed or not,” Gomez said.
“We hear about personal responsibility and accountability, and we’re out there looking for each other. I just want to encourage people to continue to look out for each other, be responsible. If you go out to one of these facilities, one of these businesses that have these mask ordinances in place, do the personally responsible thing and follow their rules,” she added.
“A lot of these institutions had to close down initially and reopened and now that they have the ability to have those safety protocols in place, they have them in place to protect their patrons and staff. If you’re not required to use a mask anywhere else, but you’re visiting one of those establishments that have that, I ask that please be respectful of the rule, please be mindful that that protocol is in place for a reason, The 16-year that is helping take your ticket, or the other adult that is bagging your groceries or at the door, is doing their job.”
Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi noted that many residents still appear to be wearing masks. “I haven’t been anywhere where the employees of a business have not been wearing a mask,” she said, adding that shoppers also appear to be donning face coverings. “They’re being responsible.”
Reyes said he asked county employees what they prefer, and they want to continue requiring masks.
And the goal remains the same. “The idea is to vaccinate as many people as fast as possible so we’re still within that time frame. We would like to get everybody vaccinated by early summer,” Reyes said.