Until recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) advised that only people who are sick or caring for someone who is sick need to wear a face mask. However, new data has shown that using a face mask may help reduce the chance that asymptomatic people spread COVID-19 and could prevent transmission of the virus from symptomatic individuals.

In a departure from its previous advice, the CDC recently published updated guidelines and now recommends the use of face coverings by the general public. Under these guidelines, everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they go out in public.

In addition, last week, a majority of Southern California health officials recommended that the general public should cover their faces to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Public health officials in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Orange counties have officially advised residents to use masks to combat asymptomatic spread of the virus. The mayor of Los Angeles has also urged the city’s residents to wear face masks when leaving home.

In some California jurisdictions, face coverings are now required. San Diego County adopted an order making it mandatory for businesses that interact with the public to use cloth face coverings for their employees starting this weekend, including grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and restaurants. Riverside County ordered all residents to cover their faces when leaving home, and the City of Lancaster passed an ordinance requiring face coverings in public during the COVID-19 emergency.

Governor Newsom has stated that face coverings are beneficial, but has not yet taken statewide action on the issue. However, a statewide recommendation or mandate to wear face masks would come as no surprise as counties and cities throughout California begin to instruct their residents to cover their faces.

The new recommendations to wear face coverings bring up the interesting question of what employers must do to keep their employees safe from coronavirus and to reduce its spread. Occupational safety and health laws require employers to provide each employee with a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death, serious injury, or serious physical harm. Depending on the risk of exposure to coronavirus, employers must be prepared to provide protective face coverings to employees that are required to come into the workplace.

However, that may be hard to do. Medical-grade face masks have flown off the shelves around the United States amid the coronavirus emergency, even when experts advised against wearing them. As state and local governments move toward requiring the use of face masks by the general public, demand for them will continue to accelerate. Further, the United States is facing a shortage of N95 face masks, also known as respirators, which filter at least 95 percent of airborne particles. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, public health and medical professionals have asked the general public to save N95 masks for the front-line medical community. Given the limited supply chain of masks, employers are advised to take necessary steps to ensure employees have access to face coverings.

Employers should also be mindful about the type of face coverings provided to employees, which will likely vary depending on the job environment and duties. According to the CDC, cloth face coverings should fit snugly but comfortably against the sides of the face, be secured with ties or ear loops, include multiple layers of fabric, allow for breathing without restriction, and be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape.

If you have any questions or concerns, you are welcome to contact the offices of Churchwell White at (916) 468-0950 or email Doug White at Doug@whitebrennerllp.com, Debra Hinshaw Vierra at Debra@whitebrennerllp.com, Nubia Goldstein at Nubia@whitebrennerllp.com, or Barbara Brenner at Barbara@whitebrennerllp.com.