The highly contagious Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is now competing with the Delta variant in the community, causing significant absenteeism among Palm Beach County employees. To combat this, Palm Beach County officials have made the wearing of facial coverings in county facilities once again mandatory, as of Jan. 3.
In order to continue providing critical government services, and for businesses to remain open and viable, the county recommends efforts to slow the spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention recommends wearing masks in public, indoor settings, particularly in areas of substantial or high community transmission, regardless of individual vaccination status.
Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County data indicates that daily cases, the daily positivity rate and the number of cases per 100,000 are once again on the rise. In conjunction with the CDC recommendation, facial coverings/masks are now required of employees and the public while in all county-owned and leased buildings until further notice.
County property includes all county owned and county-leased buildings where Palm Beach County’s offices, divisions and departments conduct business. Law enforcement has the authority to issue a trespass warning and remove any individuals not in compliance with this policy.
The federal mask requirement for county-operated transit vehicles and in Palm Beach International Airport also remains in effect.
A more limited mask mandate was enacted by the School District of Palm Beach County once schools re-opened on Wednesday, Jan. 5. The district reinstated a facial covering requirement for all employees, vendors and visitors while they are indoors. The superintendent will re-evaluate the need for facial coverings for employees in two weeks.
While strongly encouraged by the school district, masks remain optional for students, due primarily to a new state law that prohibits school districts from mandating facial coverings for students.
Learn more about COVID-19 mitigation efforts in Palm Beach County at www.pbcgov.com/coronavirus.
Cases are irrelevant since most have mild to zero symptoms.
Florida’s population is 22 million.
There are 8,914 covid related hospitalizations in Florida today (according to the CDC) which is 0.040% of the population. Does a fraction of a fraction warrant a mask mandate? Of course it doesn’t?