Name: Cleveland mayor mandates face masks in public amid coronavirus surge
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Cleveland mayor mandates face masks in public amid coronavirus surge

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NEW!56,142sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson on Friday signed an order mandating people wear face masks in public spaces to slow the spread of the coronavirus.The measure, which plans to carry fines, takes effect Friday evening and will be enforced during public Fourth of July celebrations.Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish also on Friday said he will introduce a measure to County Council on Tuesday to mandate masks in public spaces across the county.“The spike in coronavirus cases across the City of Cleveland warrants the mandated use of masks,” Jackson said in a statement. “If Clevelanders do not heed these critical warnings and prevention efforts, the effects will be disastrous to the economy and, most importantly, to individuals and families. No one is immune to this virus.”The move comes the day after the city logged the highest single-day tally of new COVID-19 cases to date. It makes Cleveland the fourth of Ohio’s five largest cities to require its residents and visitors to wear face coverings when out in public, after Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.The order makes it mandatory for for all people out in public or in public spaces including businesses, restaurants to wear masks, and caps capacity at any bar, restaurant or entertainment venue at 50 percent of maximum capacity. Those establishments must also comply with social distancing standards.Jackson and Cleveland City Council President Kevin J. Kelley said in a Friday evening telephone conference that the mayor has the authority to issue the mandate under the declaration of civil emergency that Jackson issued in March and has extended through July 31. Council however must pass legislation that attaches actual penalties for violating that order, which it plans to do at its July 15 meeting, Kelley said.The penalties that council will consider include:Until council passes legislation, Jackson said the city’s police and public health department employees will issue warnings to those who are deemed not to be in compliance.“Our goal is compliance over punishment,” Kelley said.City Councilman Tony Brancatelli announced earlier Friday that he planned to propose legislation at council’s July 15 meeting.Kelley and Councilman Blaine Griffin, who chairs council’s Health &amp; Human Services Committee, said in a joint statement Friday evening that Council “stands behind Mayor Jackson’s decisions during this unprecedented pandemic” and will take any necessary actions 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.”Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a Tweet Friday evening that Jackson’s order is “the right move.”This is the right move. With Cuyahoga County currenty at Alert Level 3, Mayor Frank Jackson’s decision to mandate masks in public will make a real difference. — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine)The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear face masks when they are in public and around people who don’t live in the same house, particularly in situations where social distancing guidelines are hard to follow, according to its website. Research shows that cloth face coverings 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 surges across the country, Cleveland said Thursday that 84 more residents had tested positive for the virus in the previous 24 hours, the single largest one-day measure since it began tracking cases in March.Since mid-June, the average daily number of new cases average based on a seven-day rolling average has risen 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 on Alert Level 3 under a new coronavirus alert system announced Thursday. Level 3, given the color red and the second highest on the 4-level scale, signals that the virus is spreading throughout the community and residents should consider only necessary travel.eMany of those areas have enacted measures requiring wearing masks in at last some public spaces.Cincinnati City Council on Friday voted to institute a mandatory face mask ordinance that Mayor John Cranley has signaled he supports, the . Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther signed an executive order that went into effect Friday that required face coverings in public, A mask ordinance in Dayton that requires people to wear face coverings when going inside public buildings or in outdoor public spaces where social distancing measures cannot be practiced went into effect Friday morning, .Governors in more than 20 states have also instituted mask requirements, including California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas and Kentucky.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine took swift and forceful measures at the onset of the pandemic in March and April, closing restaurants and bars and instituting broad stay-at-home orders that many credited with flattening the curve of new cases. But DeWine and state officials rolled back those measures at in favor of re-opening the economy and, as the number of cases has spiked across the state, DeWine has yielded much of that power to local officials to come up with their own measures to combat the surge.DeWine’s administration on Thursday extended the state’s ban on most gatherings of more than 10 people and other health and social-distancing rules that businesses must follow. The new order will not have a specific end date and will last until DeWine lifts the state of emergency in early March.Read more storiesNote to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!56,142sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson on Friday signed an order mandating people wear face masks in public spaces to slow the spread of the coronavirus.The measure, which plans to carry fines, takes effect Friday evening and will be enforced during public Fourth of July celebrations.Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish also on Friday said he will introduce a measure to County Council on Tuesday to mandate masks in public spaces across the county.“The spike in coronavirus cases across the City of Cleveland warrants the mandated use of masks,” Jackson said in a...

Cleveland mayor mandates face masks in public amid coronavirus surge

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