Ventura County issues new health order requiring masks indoors

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - The Ventura County Public Health Department issued a new health order on Friday requiring all residents wear a face covering when indoors in a public setting, with few exceptions.

The order is set to begin at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, and applies to all individuals in the county regardless of vaccination status.

Businesses and other public entities have until 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23, to comply.

The order is currently set to expire at 11:59 p.m., Sept. 19, unless it is extended, rescinded, superseded or amended by the county health officer.

The county said the purpose of this health order is to reduce the community transmission of COVID-19.

Local health officials said they are concerned by the substantial levels of increased community transmission, especially among unvaccinated people. They said this is partially due to the widespread COVID-19 Delta variant, which is substantially more transmissible than previous forms of the virus and can be transmitted by fully vaccinated individuals.

“As of today, we reached a rate of 28 cases per 100,000, a 40% increase. I hope that this order will increase mask usage in Ventura County. I expect that this will have a beneficial effect on the increase in COVID-19 infections we are seeing,” said Public Health Officer Doctor Robert Levin.

The public health order requires that individuals wear face coverings over their mouth and nose at all indoor public settings, venues, gatherings and workplaces, including but not limited to offices, retail stores, restaurants and bars, theaters, family entertainment centers, conference and event centers and government officers serving the public.

Individuals, businesses, venue operators, hosts and others responsible for the operation of indoor public settings must require all patrons to wear face coverings for all indoor settings, regardless of their vaccination status and post clearly visible and easy-to-read signage at all entry points for indoor settings to communicate the masking requirements to all patrons.

The county said signage is available at www.vcrecovers.org.

“Masking indoors must again become a normal practice by all, regardless of vaccination status, so that we can stop the trends and level of transmission we are currently seeing,” said Public Health Officer, Doctor Robert Levin. “We continue to urge all eligible residents to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their family and friends. Becoming fully vaccinated against COVID-19 remains the best protective action that people can take. It significantly reduces the risk of infection and, for the small number of people that get infected, it reduces the risk of hospitalization and death once you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”

For more information on COVID-19 in Ventura County, you can visit www.venturacountyrecovers.org.