CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson signed an executive order Friday that requires people to wear masks in public spaces to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The measure, which carries fines, will take effect on Friday night and will apply during public celebrations on July 4.
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish also said Friday that he will file a measure with the County Council to order masks in public spaces across the county.
“The increase in coronavirus cases in the city of Cleveland guarantees the mandatory use of masks,” Jackson said in a statement. “If clevelanders do not heed these critical warnings and prevention efforts, the effects will be disastrous for the economy and, most importantly, for individuals and families. No one is immune to this virus. “
The measure comes the day after the city recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in a single day to date. It makes Cleveland the fourth of Ohio’s five largest cities to require its residents and visitors to cover their faces when in public, after Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton.
The order makes it mandatory for everyone in public or public spaces, including businesses, restaurants, to wear masks and hat capacity in any bar, restaurant, or entertainment venue at 50 percent of maximum capacity. Those establishments must also meet the standards of social distancing.
The order of the mayor carries the following sanctions:
- Customers of social venues, including restaurants and bars, will be fined $ 25 for not wearing a mask.
- Employees will be fined $ 50 for not wearing masks.
- Locations that do not implement social distancing guidelines and companies that violate the 50 percent occupancy limit will be fined $ 3,000 for the first violation and $ 5,000 for each subsequent violation. Any establishment that violates maximum capacity orders twice will be closed.
- Residents or homeowners who violate the city’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people will receive a $ 150 fine for the first incident and a $ 300 fine for each subsequent incident.
City Councilman Tony Brancatelli announced earlier Friday that he planned to propose legislation at the July 15 council meeting.
Council President Kevin J. Kelley and Councilmember Blaine Griffin, who chairs the council’s Health and Human Services Committee, said in a joint statement Friday night that the Council “supports Mayor Jackson’s decisions during this pandemic without precedents “and will take the necessary measures on July 15.
Budish said in a statement: “Wearing a mask is a small sacrifice we can make to save lives and significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Cuyahoga County.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear face masks when they are in public and near people who do not live in the same home, particularly in situations where social distancing patterns are difficult to follow, according to their website. Research shows that face cloth covers are an effective way to mitigate the spread of the virus that as of Friday had infected more than 2.8 million Americans and left more than 167,000 dead since March, according to the CDC.
As the virus increases across the country, Cleveland said Thursday that 84 more residents had tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours, the largest one-day measure since it began tracking cases in March.
Since mid-June, the average daily number of new cases averaging based on a seven-day moving average has increased from less than 11 cases per day to 54 cases per day as of Thursday.
Cuyahoga County is one of seven Ohio counties to be placed at Alert Level 3 under a new coronavirus alert system announced Thursday. Level 3, given the red color and the second highest on the 4-level scale, indicates that the virus is spreading through the community and residents should consider only necessary travel.
Many of those areas have enacted measures that require wearing masks in some public spaces.
The Cincinnati City Council voted Friday to institute a mandatory face mask ordinance that Mayor John Cranley has signaled it supports, the Cincinnati Investigator reported. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther signed an executive order that went into effect on Friday that required covering his face in public, WBNS Channel 10 reported. On Friday morning, a mask ordinance came into effect in Dayton requiring that People use facial covering when entering public buildings or outdoor public spaces where social distancing measures cannot be practiced.
Governors in more than 20 states have also instituted mask requirements, including California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, and Kentucky.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine took swift and forceful action at the start of the pandemic in March and April, closed restaurants and bars, and instituted general stay-at-home orders that many attributed to flattening the curve of new cases. But DeWine and state officials reversed those measures in favor of reopening the economy, and as the number of cases skyrocketed across the state, DeWine has handed over much of that power to local officials to present their own measures to combat the surge.
On Thursday, the DeWine administration extended the state ban on most gatherings of more than 10 people and other health and social distancing standards that companies must follow. The new order will not have a specific end date and will last until DeWine lifts the state of emergency it declared in early March.
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