Denver Mayor Hancock orders face masks to be worn in public places

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock issued an order Friday requiring people to wear face coverings in public places starting Wednesday, the city announced in a release.

The order is meant to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus, which is sweeping Colorado and the world. Denver remains under a stay-at-home order until May 8.

“When we’re at the grocery store, work or any other business, my face covering protects you and your face covering protects me,” Hancock said in the statement. “The virus isn’t going away any time soon. By wearing a face covering, you’re doing your part to reduce the spread of infections and keep everyone safer.”

Hancock’s new order requires residents and employees to wear masks while inside — or waiting outside — retail or commercial businesses, at bus stops, facilities offering health care services and more. With certain exceptions, it applies to everyone age 3 and older.

People in Denver’s parks and on trails and sidewalks are not required to wear face coverings, though they’re encouraged to do so as appropriate, said city spokesperson Michael Strott.

Multiple city agencies will take steps to enforce the requirement, the release says. Those caught without a mask could face a $999 fine.

Face coverings may be manufactured or homemade and can be made of fabric or other soft material. The nose, mouth and lower face must be covered.

Face masks have varying rates of effectiveness, and leaders and public health officials across the country have gone back and forth on whether to advise or require them to be worn. The best at protecting wearers from the virus are surgical masks and N95 respirators, but those are in short supply and should be reserved for health care workers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The Trump administration has advised people to wear masks in public, but President Donald Trump said he probably wouldn’t, and Vice President Mike Pence didn’t wear one in a visit to the Mayo Clinic earlier this week. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine reversed himself at least twice before settling on requiring employees and distributors in all reopening businesses to wear masks. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has mandated that residents wear masks when out in public.

Citizens have been split, as well, with some adopting the face coverings early and others forgoing them as they protest stay-at-home orders at state capitols across the nation. Opponents of face masks have co-opted the abortion rights phrase “my body my choice.”

Hancock’s latest order has no expiration date, but public officials have said people should get used to wearing face masks in public and that social distancing measures will likely remain for months.

The Denver order goes further than one issued by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis requiring all essential workers — like grocery store clerks and staff at meatpacking plants — and employees at elder care facilities to wear masks.

Other Colorado cities and counties have already issued orders requiring face masks, Denver7 News has reported: Aspen requires face coverings in city businesses. Boulder, Fort Collins and Wheat Ridge require employees wear masks or face coverings in businesses. And Larimer and Routt counties require all employees and customers to wear coverings or masks.

The full text of Denver’s order can be found online at denvergov.org.