COLUMBUS – Franklin County health officials have issued an order that residents wear face coverings in public, even if the coronavirus outbreak in the county begins to ebb.
The Franklin County Board of Health adopted an emergency order Tuesday mandating facial coverings across the county with the exception of the cities of Columbus and Worthington, which fall under the jurisdiction of Columbus Public Health.
Franklin County is currently under a state directive requiring masks to be worn in public as the county has been designated as Level 3 in the Ohio Public Health Advisory Alert system (right) but the county board’s order will remain in effect even if the county falls to below the “red” alert designation and is no longer covered by the state order.
Franklin County led the state with 12,823 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Wednesday.
Under the board’s order, facial coverings are required “in any indoor location that is not a residence, outdoors where unable to consistently maintain a distance of six feet or more from individuals who are not members of their household, or while waiting for, riding, driving, or operating public transportation, a taxi, a private car service, or a ride-sharing vehicle.”
The order does not apply to children under the age of 10 and there are also exceptions for employees and businesses which do not require a person to wear a mask if their physician advises against it, if wearing a mask is prohibited by federal regulation, when communicating with the hearing impaired, when alone in an office or personal workspace, and other similar measures.
Violators will receive warnings at first but further violations may be prosecuted.
The board cited the guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which state that cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.
Franklin County Public Health oversees public health service to all townships and villages in Franklin County and to the cities of Bexley, Canal Winchester, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview, Grove City, Groveport, Hilliard, New Albany, Pickerington, Reynoldsburg, Upper Arlington, Westerville, and Whitehall.