Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order #63 last week requiring Virginia residents to wear face coverings inside public places to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The order went into effect on May 29.
That means in retail spaces, restaurants, personal care and grooming salons, government buildings, and on public transportation. The order will be enforced through the Virginia Department of Health, not by law enforcement, although the specifics of how the order will be enforced were not made clear.
“Measures undertaken over the last 10 weeks have slowed the spread of the virus; however, its transmission continues to threaten our communities,” said Northam. “We must remain vigilant. In fact, as we reopen Virginia, it is critical that we become even more vigilant.”
“Studies of the virus show that a substantial number of individuals with coronavirus are asymptomatic. In addition, individuals who contract the virus may still transmit the virus to others before ever showing symptoms. Therefore, a person with no symptoms of the virus could spread it by speaking, coughing, or sneezing,” he said.
“As more people venture back to businesses, employees are put in a vulnerable position when patrons come in without a face covering,” Northam said in his order. “We must make sure workers are safe as they interact with customers. Science shows us that face coverings can help stop the spread of the virus. That is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing cloth face coverings, even those made from household items or common materials, in public settings.”
“I strongly urge all Virginians to wear face coverings when leaving their homes,” he said. “But as to indoor settings to which the public has access, mere encouragement is not enough to protect the health and safety of Virginians.”
The directive states:
A. Face Coverings Required–Patrons
All patrons in the Commonwealth aged 10 and over shall, when entering, exiting, traveling through, and spending time inside the settings listed below, cover their mouth and nose with a face covering, as described and recommended by the CDC:
1. Personal care and personal grooming businesses, including but not limited to, beauty salons, barbershops, spas, massage centers, tanning salons, tattoo shops, and any other location where personal care or personal grooming services are provided.
2. All brick and mortar retail businesses, including both essential and non-essential brick and mortar retail businesses, as delineated in Amended Executive Order 61 and Amended Order of Public Health Emergency Three (2020).
3. Food and beverage establishments, including but not limited to, restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, and farmers markets, when permitted to reopen for indoor dining.
4. Entertainment or recreation businesses, including but not limited to, racetracks, historic horse racing facilities, theaters, performing arts centers, concert venues, museums, and other indoor entertainment centers, bowling alleys, skating rinks, arcades, amusement parks, trampoline parks, fairs, arts and craft facilities, aquariums, zoos, escape rooms, public and private social clubs, and all other places of indoor public amusement, once permitted to reopen to the public. Face coverings shall also be required when patrons are outdoors at these businesses, if a distance of six feet from every other person cannot be maintained.
5. Train stations, bus stations, and intrastate public transportation, including buses, rideshares, trains, taxis, and cars for hire, as well as any waiting or congregating areas associated with boarding public transportation. This requirement shall not apply in any area under federal jurisdiction or control.
6. Any other indoor place shared by groups of people who are in close proximity to each other. This restriction does not apply to persons while inside their residence or the personal residence of another. Face coverings may be removed to participate in a religious ritual.
7. State or local government buildings when accessed for the purpose of securing public services, with the exception of students in daycare centers or participating in-person classes in K-12 education or institutions of higher education.
B. Face Coverings Required–Employees of Essential Retail Businesses
All employees of essential retail businesses as listed in Amended Executive Order 61 and Amended Order of Public Health Emergency Three (2020), shall wear a face covering whenever working in customer facing areas.
C. Enforcement
The Virginia Department of Health shall have authority to enforce this Order. Medical-grade masks and personal protective equipment should be reserved for medical personnel. The use of cloth face coverings does not replace the need to maintain six feet of physical social distancing, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces routinely in all public settings, stay home when sick, and practice frequent handwashing.
D. Exceptions
The requirement to wear a face covering does not apply to following:
1. While eating or drinking
2. Individuals exercising or using exercise equipment
3. Any person who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the face covering without assistance
4. Any person seeking to communicate with the hearing impaired and for which the mouth needs to be visible
5. When temporary removal of the face covering is necessary to secure government or medical services
6. Persons with health conditions that prohibit wearing a face covering. Nothing in this Order shall require the use of a face covering by any person for whom doing so would be contrary to his or her health or safety because of a medical condition.
E. Department of Labor and Industry
Except for paragraph B above, this Order does not apply to employees, employers, subcontractors, or other independent contractors in the workplace. The Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry shall promulgate emergency regulations and standards to control, prevent, and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
State law actually prohibits the wearing of masks in public for concealment, but that will not be enforced, the Governor said. The law makes an exception for people wearing protective masks necessary for the “physical safety of the wearer or other persons,” or on the advice of a licensed physician.
If health officials continue to see a decline in coronavirus hospitalization rates and the percentage of positive cases, the earliest most parts of the state could enter into Phase 2 of Northam’s three-phased approach is Friday, May 29, two weeks after the start of Phase 1.
The governor previously indicated that Phase 2 will limit gatherings to 50 people while continuing to encourage social distancing and the wearing of masks in public. Vulnerable populations should still stay home.
Northam said that while the guidelines of Executive Order # 63 only apply to children over the age of 10, he strongly recommends them for children over the age of 3.
Northam said masks “don’t need to be medical grade,” and suggested homemade coverings as needed, even bandanas.
“All you need is a piece of cloth and a rubber band,” Northam said.
