Another Bay Area county to start requiring face coverings

"Mask up Mill Valley" sign appears near downtown Mill Valley, Ca. "Mask up Mill Valley" sign appears near downtown Mill Valley, Ca. Photo: Blair Heagerty / SFGate Photo: Blair Heagerty / SFGate Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Another Bay Area county to start requiring face coverings 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Marin is the second Bay Area county to start requiring residents to wear face coverings. County officials will make an official statement Friday with specifics on the new order, but on Thursday night they released a statement with preliminary details.

"The specific language will be posted tomorrow but in essence this order will require facial coverings for public settings where we are coming into contact within 6 feet of people who we don’t live with, particularly indoors," the statement reads. " Children under the age of six will be exempt, and we don’t need to wear it when we’re alone indoors, with those we live with, or out by ourselves on a walk."

Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a YouTube video that a cloth covering the nose and mouth prevents the spread of respiratory droplets that are the main way the coroanvirus is transmitted between people.

“Covering our faces is something we do to protect all of us,” said Willis. “The decision to cover your face is a decision to support our wellbeing as a community. If we can really do this, if we can get this down, it will help eventually give us more freedom to travel and interact more within our community. Facial covering will be an important part of the new normal.”

The requirement is expected to go into effect at noon on Wednesday, April 22.

Sonoma County already issued a similar order, and a person who violates the rule can be cited with a misdemeanor and a fine.

The East Bay city of Fremont is requiring workers and customers at essential businesses to wear face coverings amid the COVID-19 emergency. An employee can deny service to an individual who is not wearing a face covering.

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Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.