Jefferson County Issues Mandatory Mask Order As COVID-19 Cases Increase

Jefferson County joined an increasing number of Colorado municipalities on Tuesday to enact a mask requirement for anyone in public settings to combat the spread of COVID-19.

According to the order, which will take effect at 5 pm on Tuesday and expire at 6 am on July 22, if not extended, residents and visitors outside their homes “must wear a mask or cloth to cover themselves. face when they are in public places when they cannot maintain a six foot distancing social life, “county health officials said in a press release.

People will not be required to wear masks at home or in a car with members of their household. And companies will be required to put up signs stating that people must wear face covers when inside, in accordance with the county’s order.

The Jefferson County Board of Health will meet next Tuesday to decide whether to amend or extend the order.

The mandate comes as Jefferson County, along with much of the rest of the state, has seen an increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. The week of July 5, the county registered 230 new cases, a number three times as high as the week of June 14, health officials said in the news release. Increasing cases have also included a greater number of hospitalizations in the metropolitan area.

“As cases have started to rise sharply in the Denver metropolitan area and Jefferson County, we are looking at the tools we have to prevent overvoltages from occurring in other parts of our country, including neighboring states,” he said. . Dr. Mark B. Johnson, Jefferson County Executive Director of Public Health. “While we have always encouraged our residents to cover their faces, we joined with others in the Denver metro area to go one step further and make them mandatory.”