A Friday emergency order signed by Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry has generated controversy over its seeming call for residents to enforce county coronavirus restrictions within their homes, including the use of face coverings.
The executive order issues several new restrictions, including an 11 p.m. – 5 a.m. daily curfew, as well as a ban on private gatherings of over ten, although the order specifies that “residents of the household and parents and minor children of the residents of the household shall not be counted when determining whether the gathering exceeds ten (10) persons.”
Section 4 of the emergency order, titled, “Responsibility to Ensure Compliance with Applicable Orders,” has garnered the most attention. It states:
All persons who reside on any residential property, whether single family or multi-family, and irrespective of whether they own or rent the property, must ensure that all persons on the residential property, including guests, comply with all applicable guidelines of any Broward County Emergency Order, including the facial covering requirements. Residents who fail to ensure compliance with all applicable Broward County Emergency Orders by such persons shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 8-56 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, with each person present and in violation of an applicable Emergency Order constituting a separate violation.
Skeptics point out that the emergency order does not specifically list a requirement for face coverings in residential properties, although it does for commercial properties, specifically. They ultimately reason that the clause has more to do residents limiting large gatherings and enforcing the curfew, as there is not a formal requirement instructing residents to mask up within their own homes.
Opponents, however, point to the wording of the order, which instructs residents of a household ensure that all people on the property, including guests, “comply with all applicable guidelines of any Broward County Emergency Order, including the facial covering requirements.”
Media Liaison for the Office of Public Communications told The Prepared, “If you’re in your own home and you’re with your family… the county is not asking you wear a mask.
“If you have visitors to your home, for persons more than 10, then they need to be wearing a mask,” she clarified.
Broward County reported 43,747 cumulative confirmed cases of the virus as of Wednesday.