CDC and Several CA Counties Recommend Wearing a Cloth Mask

Announcements

Updates

These orders may apply to workers in the field and construction sites be sure to check with your employer and local health department.

• 4/6/20 – Riverside County requires face masks
• 4/7/20 – San Bernardino County requires face masks, $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail for not wearing one
• 4/7/20 – City of Carson requires masks, $1,000 fine for not wearing one
• 4/7/20 – City of Los Angeles requires face masks
• 4/10/20 – City of Pasadena requires face masks, fines are possible
• 4/11/20 – City of Long Beach requires face masks
• 4/15/20 – Los Angeles County requires face masks
• 4/17/20 – San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties all require face masks (entire Bay Area)
• 4/22/20 – City of Fullerton requires face masks
• 5/1/20 – San Diego County requires face masks

Wash your hands. Use a mask. And use hand sanitizer. (Adobe stock)

From the CDC…

CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission

CDC continues to study the spread and effects of the novel coronavirus across the United States.  We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms.  This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.

It is critical to emphasize that maintaining 6-feet social distancing remains important to slowing the spread of the virus.  CDC is additionally advising the use of simple cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.  Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure.

The cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators.  Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance.

This recommendation complements and does not replace the President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America, 30 Days to Slow the Spreadexternal icon, which remains the cornerstone of our national effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.  CDC will make additional recommendations as the evidence regarding appropriate public health measures continues to develop.