Mask Enforcement Fine Measure To Go Before San Mateo County Supes

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — If common sense and common decency aren't compelling enough reasons to wear a mask in public amid a deadly pandemic, perhaps the threat of a fine will.

That’s the reasoning behind a measure a San Mateo County lawmaker plans to put before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Supervisor David Canepa will introduce an emergency resolution that would impose fines on those flouting county guidelines and mainstream science.

“Your freedom is killing people,” Canepa said in an interview with KPIX 5, a portion of which reporter Joe Vazquez posted on Twitter.

"Your freedom is killing people." - San Mateo Co. Supervisor @davidcanepa, on @KPIXtv proposing new fines for violating health orders: up to $500 for people, up to $3000 for businesses.https://t.co/EEfVmUplfn pic.twitter.com/L9uw5jFh32
— Joe Vazquez (@joenewsman) August 3, 2020

“Your freedom of not wearing the mask and not social distancing and going to these large parties and gatherings, you’re killing people."

Canepa’s announcement came on the same weekend San Mateo County was ordered by the state to reinstate restrictions on businesses and public gatherings amid a spike in local coronavirus case counts.

Canepa’s measure would impose a $100 fine for those cited for not wearing facial coverings when they can't socially distance. A $200 fine for those cited a second time, KRON reports. Those cited a third time within a year would face a $500 fine.

San Mateo county is done telling people to wear their mask. An emergency ordinance will be introduced tomorrow that , if passed, will starting ticketing people who refuse to wear a mask. Here’s why this mask ordinance has a lot of teeth behind it @kron4news pic.twitter.com/92auCDjDqh
— Will Tran (@KRON4WTran) August 3, 2020

Medical experts are virtually monolithic in their view that until a medical breakthrough that could take years or may never happen, universal mask-wearing is essential to containing the COVID-19 crisis.

Mask-wearing has become politicized in the United States, with right-wing media propagating misinformation about their effectiveness.

President Trump has trafficked in misinformation throughout the pandemic. Although last week he called mask-wearing “patriotic,” he’s previously stated that people wore masks to spite him.

Last week Trump retweeted comments made by a discredited doctor who said masks and lockdowns were not important tools in the coronavirus crisis.

Dr. Stella Immanuel has claimed that space alien DNA is used in modern medicine and has attributed uterine disorder endometriosis to sex with demons that occurs during dreams, The Washington Post reports.

The video has been removed by most social media platform. Twitter told The Post that the video was “in violation of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.”

“I thought she was very impressive, in the sense that, from where she came — I don’t know what country she comes from — but she said that she’s had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients,” Trump said of Immanuel.

“I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her.”

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