ITEM TITLE:
Approval of Valdez Public Health Mandate #003 - Requirement for Masks or Cloth Face Coverings
‘
SUBMITTED BY: Requested by Council Member Devens and Council Member Sorum, Submitted by Sheri Pierce, MMC, City Clerk
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: Click here to enter text.
Unencumbered Balance: Click here to enter text.
Funding Source: Click here to enter text.
RECOMMENDATION:
Click here to enter text.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Council member Devens and Council Member Sorum requested this item be placed on the July 7th agenda for consideration by the City Council. Council policy states that any two council members or the Mayor may request an item be placed on the agenda for action by the council.
The World Health Organization has indicated that COVID-19 is spread primarily by respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes and droplets can also be generated by talking, laughing, or exhaling.
The Director for Center for Disease Control ("CDC"), Dr. Robert Redfield, stated as many as one in four people who are infected show no signs of having COVID-19, and people experiencing no symptoms can spread COVID-19 more widely than previously thought.
The CDC has stated that people are the most contagious before they start showing symptoms of COVID-19, and individuals can be infected with the virus and be contagious even when they have no symptoms.
Dr. Tom Ingelsby, Director of John Hopkins Center for Health Security, has determined that face coverings should be required because COVID-19 can spread when asymptomatic people go out in public and requiring individuals to wear face masks will reduce the transmission of the virus.
The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies).
The United States Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, acknowledges that there is a significant amount of asymptomatic spread and recommends that individuals use face coverings and attempt to not touch their face to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has further recommended that individuals wear facial coverings to prevent individuals from infecting others.
Valdez Medical personnel have advised Unified Command that covering an individual's nose and mouth can diminish the chance of cough droplets being spread in the air, and that wearing even a homemade mask, scarf, or bandana will reduce the propensity for people to touch their faces thereby partially preventing asymptomatic individuals with COVID19 from unknowingly spreading the disease.
Given the projected numbers of visitors expected in Valdez, in addition to practicing social and physical distancing and staying at home as much as possible, Valdez Medical personnel have recommended to Unified Command that mandating all people over the age of 5 (five) in Valdez* to wear a facial covering will help to prevent the spread of COVID-19 because the more people that do so, the less the virus is distributed and fewer individuals are exposed.
* Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.