Nevada County Public Health Officer Recommends Cloth Face Coverings in Addition to Healthy Hygiene Habits and Physical Distancing

April 13, 2020 – The Nevada County Health Officer continues to recommend that our best community and individual steps to slow the transmission of COVID-19 include washing hands frequently, avoiding touching our eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, and physical distancing, especially by staying at home. In addition, given more recent evidence that people can transmit the virus before symptoms develop, Dr. Cutler encourages everyone to cover their faces when it is necessary to go out in public.

There are several key points to consider:

• Covering your face DOES NOT substitute for existing guidance about physical distancing and handwashing and is not mandated.
• Cloth face coverings may help to reduce asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic (before symptoms start) transmission; however, that only works if people do not increase risk by going out more, getting closer to others, or washing hands less often. If you must make a trip outside of your home, a cloth face covering may reduce transmission to others.
• It is important to wash your hands before putting on a face covering, after putting on the covering, and trying not to touch the face covering. If you do touch it, wash your hands again.
• Cloth face coverings are not a substitute for staying home when ill.
• Given the shortage of surgical masks and N95 respirators, those should be reserved mainly for healthcare workers and first responders until the shortage is over. In the current environment, purchases of these items by the general public will worsen these shortages for those who are taking care of ill patients.

We thank all of you who are sewing and creating cloth face coverings. For more information about cloth face coverings and how to care for them, please see: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Face-Coverings-Guidance.aspx.

More Information on COVID-19 in Nevada County

For additional information on the statewide Stay-at-Home Order and recommendations to keep you and your family safer, please visit Nevada County’s coronavirus webpage at www.mynevadacounty.com/coronavirus