Masks Recommended For Essential Workers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —All essential business workers were "strongly encouraged" to wear face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Orange County's top health officer, Dr. Nichole Quick. Workers were not told to wear N95 masks, but look to making their own.

On Thursday, Quick said the recommendation follows guidance from the California Department of Public Health issued April 1. Though she has the authority to mandate the action, Dr. Quick stopped short of doing so.

A face covering should be worn over the nose and mouth, and any sort of ties or straps should be used to secure it to the head. They can be factory-made, folded, sewn or improvised from common household items such as scarfs, T-shirts, sweatshirts or towels, according to Quick.

"Residents can make their own face coverings at home from a variety of materials and should refrain from purchasing personal protective equipment that is critical and in short supply for our healthcare workers, such as N95 and surgical masks," Quick said.

According to the Emergency Operations Center spokesperson, all Orange County essential businesses should maintain a healthy work environment as recommended by CDC’s Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019: www.cdc.gov

The Orange County Board of Supervisors looked to Quick, waiting two days for her opinion on the matter.

On Monday, the Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do made a motion to make face coverings mandatory for at least food industry workers.

That order was not adopted by the board, with Supervisor Don Wagner insisting that the board members are "not doctors" and should rely on the advice of medical personnel.

Do declined to comment on Dr. Quick's recommendation on Thursday, however previously he told us that "he strongly feels that we need to be consistent with our advisory of wearing face coverings when in public."

"This advisory is especially necessary when it comes to people who handle our groceries and food," Do wrote in a statement. "We have to look out for each other."

Face coverings are an additional tool that may help protect staff and patrons from COVID-19, but they are not a substitute for proven protective measures like frequent hand washing, keeping your hands away from your face, practicing social distancing and staying home, according to Quick.

Beginning Friday, Los Angeles will make face coverings for workers mandatory. The city of Irvine issued an order Wednesday, making them mandatory, with the City Council expected to ratify it Friday. San Diego County adopted a similar policy last week.

Orange County now has 1,016 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths after another 91 cases of the disease and two additional deaths were announced.
Officials, meanwhile, are awaiting guidance from the county's chief health officer about requiring face coverings for food industry workers amid the pandemic.

The number of hospitalized patients dropped from 129 on Tuesday to 99 Wednesday, with the number of patients in intensive care decreasing from 75 to 59, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Officials say 11,791 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the county, with 1,637 more tests available.

Anaheim has the most cases with 104, followed by Irvine with 89 and Newport Beach with 78. Huntington Beach has seen a sharp rise to 73 cases, just one behind Santa Ana. Laguna Woods now has six cases of coronavirus, marking the first time the Health Care Agency has reported statistics from the city, which has a population under 25,000. Cases from such cities are not reported until they exceed five.

Suellen Hopfer, a professor of disease prevention at UC Irvine, told City News Service on Tuesday that restaurant workers should wear some sort of face covering.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending the practice for food workers.

Irvine Mayor Christina Shea said Wednesday that a city order has taken effect requiring retail workers to wear face coverings in that city. The requirement applies to grocery stores, pharmacies and other retail stores where clerks interact with customers, the mayor said.

City officials attempted to cajole city businesses to go along with a resolution on face coverings last month, but the majority of retail workers have not complied, Shea said. Some store managers have said corporate executives have said it should be voluntary, the mayor said.

"That's just not OK," Shea said. "We didn't want to go to this step."

Shea said she and other council members and other volunteers handed out masks to various stores in the city to use.

"It was a huge hole in the social distancing," Shea said of the lack of masks or scarves used to cover the face. "And we need to tighten up that hole and fix it."
She said workers could use any sort of facial covering, including scarves or bandanas. She said the hospital-grade masks should be reserved for healthcare workers.

"We don't want to take surgical masks away from medical professionals," Shea said.

The city's major developer, FivePoint, has pledged to acquire 100,000 masks for the city, Shea said.

Students and faculty at UC Irvine recently teamed up to design and construct thousands of face shields for healthcare workers with 3D printers. Chapman University students have done the same.

Sheriff Don Barnes told the Board of Supervisors he received test results Monday night showing four more inmates in Orange County's jails have COVID-19, increasing the total to 10, nine men and one woman.

Nineteen inmates are in "medical isolation," meaning they are showing symptoms of coronavirus, Barnes said. Another 159 inmates are in quarantine, meaning they have had contact with someone with the virus.

Sheriff's officials have implemented a full quarantine in the men's and women's jails.

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How are you coping with the shut down in your town? Let your Patch Editor know by emailing: ashley.ludwig@patch.com
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