Two days after Riverside County ordered all residents to wear face coverings when in public to limit the spread of COVID-19, Sheriff Chad Bianco said his department would not ticket residents defying the order.

“This is a valid order and enforceable by fine, imprisonment or both,” he said in an video published on YouTube Monday evening. “However, I need to make it perfectly clear to all residents of Riverside County that we will not be setting up any type of police state and this is not a declaration of martial law.”

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the county continues to rise. On Monday evening, health officials reported 946 confirmed cases and 25 deaths.

Bianco said deputies wouldn’t stop vehicles or set up checkpoints to examine whether people were wearing face coverings. Neither will deputies stop individuals walking or hiking without face coverings.

“You will not be stopped or ticketed simply because you are not wearing a mask,” he said, donning a Sheriff's Department balaclava around his neck. “While this order does have potential criminal and civil consequences that is the last thing I want to happen while dealing with this crisis.

In the face-cover mandate, Riverside County's public health officer said law enforcement agencies in the county could enforce the order “as they deem necessary.”

Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies patrol the county’s unincorporated area and the 17 cities that outsource their law enforcement to the Sheriff’s Department, including Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indian Wells and Coachella.

Bianco asked residents to refrain from calling 9-1-1 to report people defying the county’s face covering mandate. Doing so, he said, cuts into law enforcement’s ability to respond to critical calls for services.

As of last Friday, 26 officers in the Riverside County Sheriff's Department had tested positive for COVID-19 and two had died. Thirteen inmates in county jails have tested positive.

Sam Metz covers politics. Reach him at samuel.metz@desertsun.com or on Twitter @metzsam.