Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen today announced that North Carolina will remain in Safer at Home Phase 2 for
three more weeks
(July 17th). Cooper also announced that face coverings must be worn when people are in public places as officials seek to stabilize concerning trends of increasing viral spread.
Face Coverings Required
People are now required to wear face coverings in public spaces, whether inside or outside, where physical distancing of
six feet is not possible
. This includes but is not limited to:
•Retail Businesses: Retail businesses must have all workers wear face coverings. Retail businesses must also have all customers wear face coverings when they are inside the establishment and may be within six feet of another person, unless the customer comes under an exception identified in the Order. If a customer states that an exception applies, the retailer should try to make an accommodation. The business may choose to provide curbside service, provide home delivery, allow the customer to enter without a face covering, or use some other reasonable measure to deliver goods.
•Restaurants: Restaurants must have all workers wear face coverings. Restaurants must also have all customers wear face coverings when not at their table, unless the customer comes under an exception identified in the Order.
•Personal Care, Grooming, and Tattoo Businesses: Personal care, grooming, and tattoo businesses must have workers wear face coverings. These businesses must also have all customers wear face coverings when they are inside the establishment and may be within feet of another person, unless an individual 2has an exception as outlined in the Order. If a customer states that an exception applies, the business may choose to have the customer wait outside for his or her appointment rather than sitting in a waiting room. Customers may take off their face coverings if they are receiving a facial treatment, shave, or other services on a part of the head which the face covering covers or by which the face covering is secured.
•Child Care Facilities: Child care, day camps, and overnight camps must have workers and all other adults wear face coverings. All children eleven years and older must also wear face coverings on site unless they have an exception. Children under two should not wear a face covering. •State Government Employees: State government agencies headed by members of the Governor’s Cabinet must have their on-site workers wear face coverings. Other state and local government agencies are strongly encouraged to adopt similar policies.
•Transportation: All workers and riders on public or private vehicles, as well as all people in North Carolina airports, bus and train stations or stops, must wear face coverings. Passengers will not be denied access to public transportation for failure to use face coverings. This provision does not apply to people traveling alone with household members or friends in their personal vehicles, but does apply to ride-shares like Ubers and Lyfts, cabs, vans, and shuttles, even if the vehicles are privately owned.
•Manufacturing, Construction Sites, Agricultural Settings: Social distancing is difficult where multiple workers are together in manufacturing settings, at construction sites, and in migrant farm, other farm, and agricultural settings. This Order specifies that manufacturing, construction, and agriculture businesses or operations must require workers to wear face coverings.
•Meat or Poultry Processing Plants: All workers in any meat or poultry processing plant, packing plant, or slaughterhouse must wear surgical masks, as long as surgical mask supplies are available. If surgical masks are not available, cloth face coverings must be provided.
•Long Term Care Facilities: All workers in long term care (LTC) facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, adult care homes, family care homes, mental health group homes, and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, must wear surgical masks while in the facility, as long as surgical mask supplies are available.
Health care facilities other than LTC facilities must follow the face covering requirements in the CDC Infection Control Guidance for Healthcare Professionals about Coronavirus.
EXCEPTIONS:
What are some of the exceptions for wearing face coverings? A face covering does not need to be worn by a worker, customer, or patron who meets one of the following exceptions:
•Should not wear a face covering due to any medical or behavioral condition or disability (including, but not limited to, any person who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious or incapacitated, or is otherwise unable to put on or remove the face covering without assistance);
•Is under eleven years of age; •Is actively eating or drinking;
•Is strenuously exercising;
•Is seeking to communicate with someone who is hearing-impaired in a way that requires the mouth to be visible;
•Is giving a speech for a broadcast or to an audience;
•Is working at home or is in a personal vehicle;
•Is temporarily removing his or her face covering to secure government or medical services or for identification purposes;
•Would be at risk from wearing a face covering at work, as determined by local, state, or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines;
•Has found that their face covering is impeding visibility to operate equipment or a vehicle; and/or
•Is a child whose parent, guardian, or responsible person has been unable to place the face covering safely on the child’s face.
No proof or documentation is required if an individual falls into an exception category.
How will the face covering requirement be enforced?
Citations related to this Order can be written to businesses or organizations that fail to enforce the requirement to wear face coverings.
Operators of businesses and organizations are entitled to rely on their customers or patrons’ statements about whether or not they are exempt from the face covering requirements, and businesses and organizations do not violate this Order if they rely on customer or patron statements. Law enforcement personnel cannot criminally enforce the face covering requirements of this Order against individual workers, customers, or patrons. However, if a business or organization does not allow entry to a worker, customer, or patron because that person refuses to wear a face covering, and if that worker, 6customer, or patron enters the premises or refuses to leave the premises, law enforcement personnel may enforce the trespassing laws.
The NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has released guidance to the general public on the use of face coverings, and will make signage available to businesses. Guidance and signage are available at:
Guidance Manuals and Tools Kits
.
