State And Local Health Departments Responsible For Enforcing Compliance Of Wearing Face Coverings

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State And Local Health Departments Responsible For Enforcing Compliance Of Wearing Face Coverings

Governor Eric J. Holcomb today signed Executive Order 20-37 to require face coverings beginning Monday to slow the spread of Coronavirus.

“Hoosiers have worked hard to get where we are today with businesses open and people back at work. We want to keep it that way. We don’t want to dial things back. Face coverings can and will help us blunt the increase of this virus,” Gov. Holcomb said.

State and local health departments will be responsible for enforcing compliance through education about the importance of wearing face coverings. The executive order does not include criminal penalties.

The executive order also outlines the requirements for mask-wearing in schools.

Gov. Holcomb has used data to drive decisions since the state’s first case of the novel coronavirus in early March. At this time, the state faces:

  • An increase in overall hospitalizations from approximately 600 a day near the end of June to approximately 800 now
  • The highest number of cases in a single day with 1,011 Hoosiers reported positive today
  • A rise in COVID-19 positivity across the state from a low of 3.6% a month ago to nearly double that percentage now
  • Some counties, which early on had minimal positive cases in some instances, now reporting regular double-digit positive cases

The executive order is in effect until at least Aug. 26. Local governments may impose more restrictive guidelines.

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. I’m going to do my best to avoid insulting too many people with this missive, but it seems many of the people who went to the City Council meeting to voice opposition to the city’s COVID-19 mask mandate really need to read the Constitution and do a teeny bit of research.
    For those who claim the mandate violates their Constitutional rights – NO, you are 100 percent incorrect.
    A simple Google search will turn up the following U.S. Supreme Court ruling that references Constitutional rights and the authority of the state during health emergencies:
    The 10th Amendment, which gives states all powers not specifically given to the federal government, allows them the authority to take public health emergency actions, such as setting quarantines and business restrictions.
    Second, In 1905, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a state law mandating smallpox vaccination of adults and subjecting those who refused to a fine and potential imprisonment. A minister who objected on personal liberty grounds under the 14th Amendment filed suit after he was prosecuted and fined.
    In his 7-2 majority opinion, Justice John Marshall Harlan said “the liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States to every person within its jurisdiction does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint.”
    Therefore, your “rights” are not being trampled upon nor are they being infringed.
    Third, I chuckled when I read that some people are actually believers in the “Global Cabal” who have a design to subjugate Americans to a One World government and wearing masks are just a step in that direction. Delusions seems to permeate some people. My guess is that their fear and paranoia is what they grasp onto as it is too painful to soul-search to find the causes of their life’s foibles.
    Wearing face masks and coverings are no more “intrusive” than laws mandating shirts, pants, shoes, helmets, or seat belts. We ALL have a responsibility to each other in times of national crisis and wearing my mask is my way of saying: I care for the rest of you.
    – Leonard Dowhie

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