SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller has reinstated an emergency declaration requiring face coverings in public effective immediately due to an increase of COVID-19 cases throughout the state.
Anyone over the age of 10 is required to wear a face mask in public when social distancing cannot be maintained, according to a press release from the City of Sierra Vista. An emergency declaration was initiated Saturday, June 27, and was suspended on Friday, Sept. 18, after a decrease in cases.
“The latest local data shows an increasing trend of new COVID-19 cases in Cochise County and within our community,” Mueller says. “Sierra Vistans have done a great job keeping transmission here relatively low but it’s time that we must once again do more to combat this highly contagious virus.”
Below are exceptions of the order when face coverings are not required:
- When at home.
- When alone in a vehicle or in a vehicle with people you live with.
- When a person is at a commercial establishment for the purposes of eating, drinking, or sleeping.
- When exercising outdoors alone or with people they live with and while using public sports or practice fields.
- While swimming.
- In workspaces not open to the general public.
- For any person who cannot wear a face-covering because of a medical condition, mental health condition or developmental disability, or who is unable to remove the face covering without assistance.
- In an emergency situation where the wearing of a face covering is not feasible.
Before enforcement actions are followed, one will be informed of the order and violation, and will be given a chance to comply.
For more information regarding COVID-19 in Sierra Vista, visit here.
