SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Starting this week, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel will begin requiring customers and staff at essential businesses such as grocery stores to wear face coverings to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The order will follow requirements in place throughout much of the Bay Area, and is intended to further slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The order includes public, commercial and governmental spaces where face-to-face interactions may pose a risk of transmission, including grocery stores, health care offices, restaurant pickup counters, public transit, essential government offices and more.
“We are making great progress in flattening the curve and preventing the spread of COVID-19,” Newel said. “However, we now know that COVID-19 can be transmitted by infected patients for days before they are symptomatic. These measures are intended to protect our essential workers and each other, and I urge everyone to follow this order closely.”
Under the order, businesses may not serve customers who are not wearing masks, and must take “reasonable measures” to remind visitors about face coverings, such as posting signs.
Workers do not need face coverings if they are alone in a personal office but must put them on when others enter.
The order also includes customers of public transit (including while waiting at transit stops), rideshare services, and passengers in private automobiles who are not members of the same household.
Residents are not required to wear face coverings when engaged in outdoor recreation, but are encouraged to continue to practice safe physical distancing.
The order does not require children 12 and younger to wear face coverings. Children two years old or younger must not wear them due to risk of suffocation.
Due to ongoing shortages of personal protective equipment, the public is discouraged from using medical-grade masks, such as N95 masks or surgical masks. Those supplies should be reserved for health care workers and first responders. If you have medical-grade masks and would like to donate them, go to www.santacruzcounty.us/ppedonate.
The County’s Shelter-in-Place order remains in effect through May 3.
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When putting on and taking off face coverings, be careful not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Face coverings should be washed regularly.
Face coverings can be:
• Homemade masks
• Bandanas
• Neck gaiters
• T-shirts
• Towels or other cloth materials
Face coverings should:
• Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
• Be secured with ties or ear loops
• Include multiple layers of fabric
• Allow for breathing without restriction
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For local information on COVID-19, go to www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus, call 211 or text COVID19 to 211211. Residents may also call 454-4242 between the hours of 8am and 6pm., seven days a week.
For guides on homemade face coverings, see bit.ly/3bvl23g
