Yolo County has made it mandatory to wear masks or face coverings in public or while working at an essential job, an effort to curb spread of the coronavirus, according to a Friday morning announcement.
TheA county in a statement announced the new health order, which it says takes effect immediately but is a not enforceablea until 8 a.m. Monday.
Face coverings will be required in public settings, including but not limited to shopping at a store, waiting in line outside the store, picking up food from a restaurant or while taking public transportation or ridesharing. Businesses must also require employees, contractors and volunteers to wear face coverings at their workplace, and inform customers by posting signs telling them to do so.
Businesses also must refuse service to any customer not wearing a face covering, the order says.
Face coverings are not required at home, while in a car alone or with members of the same household, or outdoors when a walking, hiking, bicycling or runninga for exercise. Residents must still keep six feet of distance when outside.
Children under 2 or those with health conditions whose doctors have advised against wearing face coverings are also not required to wear them.
a This order is informed by the Centers for Disease Control, scientific evidence, and best practices regarding the most effective approaches to slow the transmission of communicable diseases, such as COVID-19,a the county news release said.
Yolo becomes the first in the four-county Sacramento region to make facial coverings mandatory. Contra Costa County in the Bay Area recently made masks mandatory, and Los Angeles County did so late last week. Sacramento and Placer countiesa public health departments have recommended face coverings when in public, following updated guidance in recent weeks from the federal CDC and state health leaders on the subject.
Additionally, Yolo County on Friday amended its shelter-in-place order, announcing four outdoor activities that will be permitted so long as people follow social distancing and face covering guidelines: golf courses, firearm and archery ranges and boat ramps may reopen, and fishing is permitted. (Courtesy-SacBEE)