COVID-19: California, Washington, several US states make face masks mandatory

Several states, including California, Arizona, and North Carolina have reportedly have mandated the use of face mask as the coronavirus cases in at least six states set daily records, as per reports. On June 29, the US governors and mayors said in a press conference that they were making protective face coverings mandatory as the economy reopened leading to a spike in Coronavirus cases. Over 40,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus were recorded in the past 24 hours as the hospitalization figures in many states shot up.  

While Florida registered more than 3,207 new cases, the second daily record in a week, Orange County Mayor, Jerry Demings, in a televised address mandated the use of face masks. Warning the residents of Orlando that the adherence protocol would avoid a second shutdown, the Mayor urged the people to cover their faces to stem the transmission of the disease. Meanwhile, the California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a tweet that “COVID-19 is still here and it’s still spreading faster. While we have gradually reopened many businesses — with infections now increasing, we have paused on opening more businesses, such as movie theatres, bowling alleys, arcades, and concert halls.” 

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Face masks mandatory in public

Similarly, the Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced in the press conference that the state was making face masks mandatory in public while easing clamp-downs on businesses and people’s movement. With cases spiked by 35 percent last week, the Washington state, one of the first to witness the outbreak of COVID-19, took the measure to curb the fresh wave of infection. “This is about saving lives. It’s about reopening our businesses. And it’s about showing respect and care for one another,” Inslee said in a live-streamed press conference.  

In a record spike, states of California and Texas in the US registered over 9,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in a single day, and additionally, more than 8,000 deaths as critical cases of patients in need of hospitalization soared. Therefore, the total number of cases in each state soared to 224,000 and 159,000 respectively, according to the state maintained COVID-19 tally. Meanwhile, the new epicenter, Los Angeles reported a ‘shocking’ single-day surge as it put coronavirus cases over 100,000.   

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(Image Credit: AP)