Face Coverings Urged As Coronavirus Cases Rise In San Diego

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Officials on Thursday urged all residents to begin wearing face coverings as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to climb in San Diego County.

Employees of essential businesses who interact with the public will be required to wear face coverings. These include grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores and gas stations.

Officials also strongly encouraged all other residents to wear face coverings when leaving home.

The new order for essential business workers and guidance for other residents will go into effect at midnight Friday.

Face coverings should cover the nose and mouth, and they can include homemade masks, bandanas, scarfs and neck gaiters. Coverings should not be medical-grade masks, including N95 and surgical masks, as those are in short supply, officials said.

Officials also reminded residents to maintain social distancing and hand-washing guidelines, in addition to wearing face coverings.

"People should continue to practice physical distancing even when wearing facial coverings," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer. "They should also wash their hands and take other preventive measures, since they can still contract the virus if they touch their eyes, nose or mouth."

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Among other new guidelines, essential businesses that remain open must now post social distancing and sanitization guidelines near the entrance of their business. The order goes into effect midnight Monday.

All public parks and beaches must close parking lots. Activities such as walking and hiking are permitted, but group activities such as basketball and volleyball are prohibited, officials said.

"This really is the month that will set the trajectory and course for our region," Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said. "As we come together as a community and truly commit to the efforts that have been laid out, we can avoid the devastation we've seen playing out across this nation and across the world with hospitals being overrun with patients beyond their capacity to treat them. If we do not in the month of April, then we can expect as a region to encounter similar circumstances and situations."

Law enforcement agencies throughout the region will be out cracking down on people and nonessential businesses in violation of stay-at-home orders.

Violations of the rules constitute misdemeanors punishable by fines up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.

"The days of voluntary compliance are over," Gore said.

The amended public health orders were announced as another death and 117 new coronavirus cases were reported. The latest victim was a 98-year-old woman.

As of Thursday, 966 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, and 16 residents have died from COVID-19 in the county.

Of the cases, 53.2 percent (514) were men and 45.4 percent (439) were women. The gender of 1.3 percent (13) was not listed. Of the known cases, 181 (18.7 percent) have required hospitalization, 70 (7.2 percent) had to be placed in intensive care and 16 (1.7 percent) have died.

"Even with all of the efforts and actions we're taking, we do expect these numbers to contiue to increase," Fletcher said. "We know they would be increasing at a much greater rate had we not taken the steps we've taken, and that's why we're still encouraging and requesting the public's not only continued commitment but increased commitment as we head into the vital days of May."

Related coverage:

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• Listen To Stay-Home, Social-Distance Mandates: San Diego County Sheriff
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• California Coronavirus Latest: Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures