San Benito County Health Officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib announced that he is taking extra precautionary steps to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
As of April 27, he is requiring residents to wear a face covering when going out into the public to perform essential activities.
On Friday, Fenstersheib issued the order that goes into effect Monday starting at 8 a.m. It is now combined with the shelter-in-place order and social distancing to help slow transmission of the coronavirus.
“Due to continued community spread of COVID-19 across our region, we are starting mandatory facial coverings for everyone going out into the public to perform essential activities,” said Fenstersheib in the statement.
The order also includes customers of public transit including those who are waiting at transit stops, rideshare services and passengers in private automobiles who are not members of the same household.
The order does not require children 12 years old or younger to wear face coverings. But toddlers under the age of 2 must not wear them due to risk of suffocation.
Anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance is also not required to wear one.
Businesses must post signs to remind patrons about face coverings, and are not allowed to serve customers who do not observe the order.
Workers do not need to wear face coverings if they are alone in a personal office but must put them on when other people are present.
Individuals engaged in outdoor recreation such as jogging, cycling and hiking are not required to wear face coverings.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors held a virtual town hall meeting April 24. County Administrative Officer Ray Espinosa said more than 13,000 face coverings have been distributed to date.
He mentioned they created a new COVID-19 website (sbchelps.us) where they have all of the orders listed as well as community resources, educational resources along with health and well-being services.
“Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, San Benito County has continued operations at a relentless pace,” Espionsa said.
County officials are discouraging the general use of medical masks such as N-95 and surgical masks due to the demand for these items among medical workers throughout the state.
The county’s Public Health Services office is asking residents to refrain from purchasing PPE for their own use and to utilize homemade face coverings instead.
Fenstersheib said in the town hall meeting they have worked locally and regionally throughout the state to identify cases of the coronavirus. He mentioned cases have been reported to local authorities on a central system. If somebody with the symptoms goes into the emergency room at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital they are immediately tested.
“All of the cases that we have had have been followed up on and isolated in their homes until they have been able to be cleared, free of symptoms,” Fenstersheib said.
As of April 24, there have been 47 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Benito County. The local death count remains at two, according to county officials.
The data from San Benito County Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that 785 patients have been tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 707 have tested negative and 31 are pending results.
Of the 47 positive cases of COVID-19, one patient is in the 0-17 age group; 29 are in the 18-49 age group; 12 are in the 50-64; and five are age 65 or older.
“I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but for our community it’s quite significant,” Fenstersheib said. “For that reason it’s very important that we stay on top of our cases and follow every single one.”
In California, there have been 37,369 total cases reported, and 1,469 deaths from COVID-19.
Fenstersheib said they have seen a downward trend of cases since the shelter-in-place began on March 17.
“For me that tells me, through data, that we made a difference in what we have done to try to keep from spreading this infection,” he said. “The participation from all the people out there in the community that have done this very difficult work, it has made a difference.”
