SamTrans Called On To Step Up Mask Enforcement: Report

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — SamTrans is being called on by public officials to step up its enforcement of a requirement that passengers wear facial coverings while aboard buses amid the COVID-19 crisis, The San Mateo Daily Journal reports.

The transit agency has so far taken a lax approach to enforcement of this requirement, the report said, noting that SamTrans Chief Operating Officer David Olmeda acknowledged during a board meeting Wednesday that it has taken a “soft approach.”

Board Member Charles Stone said he believes the transit agency should pursue a more aggressive enforcement strategy according to the report.

“Morally I think we have an obligation to institute a mandatory face covering rule as soon as possible … I think we have to abandon the soft approach and go with a much stricter approach,” Stone said, according to the report.

“No one should be getting on our buses without a face covering … It’s not just about the health and safety of other riders. It’s about the health and safety of our operators as well.”

Olmeda defended the “soft” enforcement approach by saying it was needed to avoid conflict between drivers and riders reluctant to wear facial coverings, the report said.

Olmeda’s contention isn’t without merit.

A segment of the population believes wearing facial coverings to be an infringement on their individual liberties or don’t accept the reality of the coronavirus pandemic who have protested mask wearing. Some have thrown tantrums inside stores.

“One of the things we’ve learned from other transit agencies is when we take a very hard line or depend on the operators to take a hard line we increase the opportunity to get aggression and have problems on board our vehicles,” Olmeda said, according to the report.

“We’ve taken a softer approach because quite frankly at this point in time everyone understands in society that masks are required.”

San Mateo County and state laws requiring facial coverings are already on the books.

San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow issued a health order on April 17 requiring facial coverings be worn in public when it’s not possible to social distance a minimum of six feet.

Failure to comply with a state law requiring facial coverings be worn in public is punishable by a fine of $1,000, imprisonment of 90 days, or both.

Until there’s a vaccine, credible medical experts are virtually monolithic in their assertion that facial coverings are the most effective way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that if 95% of Americans adhered to CDC recommendations that facial coverings be worn in public, 33,000 deaths could be averted by Oct. 1, CNN reports.

Vox earlier this year reported that in Hong Kong, where the use of facial coverings has been virtually universal since the early days of the outbreak, just four coronavirus-related deaths were reported among a population of 7.5 million as of May 18.

In New York City, where masks weren’t worn until weeks into the pandemic, more than 28,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported by the same date.

Read more in The San Mateo Daily Journal