Officials are forcing city workers in San Jose, California, to mask up on the job yet again out of an “abundance of caution” as the country as a whole continues to move in the direction of pre-pandemic normalcy.
In April, the city council voted to end local restrictions, including the broad mask mandate. However, officials brought back the mask mandate for city workers, which went into effect on Friday. It is expect to last through May 20.
City spokesperson Carolina Camarena said the city is forcing masks on city workers out of “an abundance of caution.”
“We are constantly monitoring the data and COVID-19 increases and decreases and we adjust accordingly,” Camarena said, according to San José Spotlight.
“There has been, unfortunately, a significant increase in countywide COVID cases. We want to keep our employees safe and continue to be able to provide essential services to our community,” she added.
According to KTVU, the city is willing to extend the mask mandate, if it deems the action necessary.
There are currently no statewide mask mandates in place across the U.S., and travelers are now free of forced masking thanks to a decision by a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida, who deemed the Biden administration’s rule illegal.
However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) its blessing to challenge the ruling, deeming the original rule a “lawful order.”
Students in various parts of the country are still under the burden of forced masking as well. Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), for instance, is bringing back forced masking on elementary and middle school children, even though the CDC itself has admitted that cloth masks are the “least” effective.
Notably, the federal health agency even advised Americans against using the more effective masks throughout the bulk of the pandemic. Studies also show that cloth and surgical masks do not effectively block aerosols — something even Dr. Anthony Fauci privately admitted at the start of the pandemic.