Indio Adopts Order Requiring Face Coverings

INDIO  – This most populous city in Coachella Valley is the latest to adopt an order requiring face coverings.

Other cities in the Valley, including Palm Springs and Cathedral City, have had such orders in place for a while.

In response to Riverside County’s rescission of its mandatory face covering order, the city of Indio has adopted an emergency order requiring face coverings in public places, effective immediately.

Some examples of indoor public settings include: shopping at stores, picking up food or retail goods inside of those businesses, or when using public transportation.  In public outdoor settings, face coverings are required when waiting in line to go inside a grocery store, or in other outdoor situations if social distancing of six feet cannot be maintained.  Businesses are encouraged to follow the State’s guidelines for face coverings for their employees.

Children under the age of two, and people with breathing problems or other health conditions where wearing masks are not advisable, are exempt from this order.  Children ages two through eight years old must also wear face coverings, however, with adult supervision.

The requirement comes just as Riverside County received approval from the state for accelerated reopening, Board of Supervisors Chair V. Manuel Perez announced at a news conference on Friday, May 22.

This means restaurants can now open for dine-in service, and venues such as shopping malls, strip malls and swap meets are allowed to reopen, Perez explained. It’s the second phase in the second stage of California’s reopening plan.