DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With COVID-19 cases on the rise, leaders in Daytona Beach on Friday approved a new mandate that requires residents to wear masks while in public.
Starting Sunday, anyone who is at a location indoors in Daytona Beach -- other than their own home -- and unable to social distance will be required to wear a facial covering.
“We have this requirement in place to protect our most vulnerable population and hope our residents wear face coverings to protect others,” Mayor Derrick Henry said in a news release. “We also want to send a message to those who visit our city that we take the CDC recommendations seriously, and we want people who visit our city to take them seriously to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
The resolution passed 6-1 during Friday’s meeting and will be enforced using warnings through July 16. Leaders plan to discuss further enforcement with the Daytona Beach Police Department.
The following were listed as exemptions to the mask mandate:
- Anyone under the age of two years.
- Anyone observing social distancing in accordance with CDC guidelines.
- Anyone for whom a face covering would cause impairment due to an existing health condition.
- Anyone working in a business or profession who does not have face-to-face interactions with others.
- Anyone working in a business or profession who can maintain social distance (can include use of a barrier) from another person.
- Anyone working in a business or profession where use of a face covering would prevent them from performing the duties of the business or profession.
- Anyone exercising, while maintaining social distancing.
- Anyone eating or drinking.
- Public safety, fire and other life safety and health care personnel, as their personal protective equipment requirements will be governed by their respective agencies.
- Anyone speaking with another individual who is hearing-impaired, where the hearing-impaired individual needs to see the person’s mouth in order to understand what is spoken.
In Volusia County on Friday, officials unveiled a new campaign called “Step Up Volusia.” The county hopes the initiative that begins on Monday will slow down the spread of COVID-19.
“I think people are starting to tune out the government and what we’re trying to do is showing people’s peers that are out there and taking charge and taking personal responsibility for helping us beat the virus,” said Chris Graham, spokesperson for the city of DeLand.
Graham helped launch the campaign and the interactive website that he said will be filled with videos and pictures of people wearing masks and washing hands.
“It’s going to be a social media campaign, we’re going to be doing billboards and other things. Just showing people within our community, elected leaders, business owners who are really taking personal responsibility,” he said.
As of Friday, Volusia County has reported a cumulative total of 1,605 COVID-19 cases.
Daytona Beach officials said anyone not in compliance with the city’s resolution will have warnings issued to them through July 15.
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