Alameda County Health Officer Order: Wearing Face Covering

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A message from:
Board of Supervisors
Susan S. Muranishi, County Administrator
Joe Angelo, Human Resource Services Director

April 20, 2020

We again thank our dedicated Alameda County employees for your tireless efforts in responding to our community needs during this pandemic: We appreciate your flexibility as you work in an everchanging environment and continue to provide needed services to our residents and communities. And so today, the purpose of this message is to advise you of a recent update by our County Health Officer requiring that everyone wear face coverings while at work.

On April 17th , the County's Health Officer issued Order No. 20-08: ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA GENERALLY REQUIRING MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND WORKERS TO WEAR FACE COVERINGS ("Order"). This Order was effective April 17, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. and will be enforced effective 8:00 a.m. on April 22, 2020.

The Order requires everyone to wear a face covering whenever out of the house for essential reasons, including work. While we expect that many of you will want to wear your own face covering, the County will make disposable face coverings available at each worksite for our employees and others conducting business in County facilities to comply with the Order.

Face coverings come in a variety of forms, and examples include a scarf; bandana; neck gaiter; homemade covering made from a t-shirt, sweatshirt, or towel, held on with rubber bands or otherwise; or a mask, which need not be of a medical grade. As medical grade masks such as N95 and surgical masks are currently in short supply, they should be reserved for health care providers and first responders.

Your Agency/Department Human Resources staff are available to provide further details regarding the use of Face Coverings at work. We have also provided a guide to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) as an added resource. We hope this information will offer further guidance to our valued employees in our continuing effort to keep you informed, healthy and safe.