Face Masks Are No Longer Required In California’s Orange County
Well, here’s an abrupt shift in health orders: Orange County residents no longer have to wear masks in public, officials said Thursday.
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County Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau made the big announcement at a news conference, saying that face coverings are no longer mandatory, but are strongly recommended to keep as more businesses in the county are given the green light to reopen.
“I want to be clear. This does not diminish the importance of face coverings,” Chau explained according to KABC. “I stand with the public health experts and believe wearing cloth face coverings help to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community and save lives.”
He went on to say,
“This decision is not because of the public pushback on it and we are not taking the masks away,” he said, according to the Orange County Register. “We strongly recommend that people wear masks.”
The news comes days after his predecessor resigned amid criticism, and even death threats, over her order that everyone in the county must wear face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under former Chief Health Officer Nichole Quick, all Orange County residents were required to wear a face-covering outside their homes when it wasn’t possible to keep at least six feet of distance from another person, according to a Health Care Agency web page published before Quick’s resignation.
As The New York Post reports, Quick voluntarily resigned Monday, and the county agreed to pay her $75,000 in severance.
As of Thursday, Orange County saw 260 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total of 7,987. Four additional deaths were reported, bringing the county’s death toll to 202. The Post reports that the county reported 3,726 recoveries from the virus.
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