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Health officials in six Bay Area counties – Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, and Contra Costa – have issued orders mandating the use of face coverings in public areas like essential businesses, common spaces, and on public transit. The San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, and Sonoma county orders went into effect on April 17; however, enforcement of the San Francisco, Alameda, and San Mateo county orders will not begin until 8 a.m. on April 22, 2020.  The Contra Costa and Marin county orders went into effect at 8 a.m. on April 20, 2020.

Acceptable face coverings

Under these orders, individuals should not purchase N95 or other factory-made masks in order to meet the requirements.  Those masks should be reserved for health care workers.  Instead, individuals should use any cloth, fabric, or other soft or permeable material, without holes, that covers only the nose and mouth and surrounding areas of the lower face – even if homemade.    Examples of acceptable face coverings include a scarf or bandanna; a neck gaiter; a homemade covering made from a t-shirt, sweatshirt, or towel, held on with rubber bands or otherwise; or a mask, which need not be medical-grade.
Continue Reading Bay Area counties mandate face coverings for essential businesses and other public areas

As we detailed last week, on April 12, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order requiring all essential businesses to provide their employees with “face coverings” to be worn when the employees are “in direct contact with customers or members of the public.”  The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has now issued guidance clarifying and providing parameters for essential businesses seeking to comply with this mandate.  We will summarize the material facets of that guidance below.

What constitutes “face coverings” and “direct contact”?

To start, the DOH’s guidance clarifies that face coverings include, but are not limited to, cloth-based coverings (e.g., homemade sewn, quick cut, or bandana), surgical masks, N-95 respirators, and face shields.  The guidance also refers employers to CDC materials concerning cloth face covers and other PPE, as well as instructions on use and cleaning.

In addition, the DOH’s guidance explains that individual employers may interpret the phrase “direct interaction with the public,” as used in Governor Cuomo’s executive order, as it relates to their specific workplaces.  Nevertheless, according to the DOH, such phrase, at a minimum, includes any employee who is routinely within close contact (i.e., six feet or less) with members of the public, including but not limited to customers or clients.Continue Reading New York issues guidance on face coverings for essential businesses

This article supplements our earlier article about the April 15, 2020 worker safety order issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH).  The order requires essential businesses in operation in Pennsylvania to implement new workplace requirements, including a mandate for all workers to wear masks.  DOH accompanied the order with a guidance, which was available shortly after issuance of the order.  Unlike the order, the recommendations in the guidance are not mandatory, and are in some ways broader than the requirements of the order.  The order became effective immediately upon its issuance, with enforcement scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. on April 19, 2020.

In the days after issuance of the order, various advocacy groups raised a variety of questions about the new requirements.  DOH has now responded with a publication it calls COVID-19 Workplace Safety Questions.  This document is in the nature of Frequently Asked Questions.  The information provided in the more than 50 FAQs is not organized into categories.  This article organizes some of the key points into four categories: masks; definition of “probable” case; temperature screening; and enforcement.Continue Reading Pennsylvania Health Department answers FAQs about worker safety order

Effective April 16, 2020, an emergency amendment to Illinois’ workers’ compensation rules will make it easier for workers at essential businesses to obtain workers’ compensation benefits for COVID-19 related injuries. Specifically, the emergency amendment creates a rebuttable presumption that exposure of a “COVID-19 First Responder or Front Line Worker” to the virus arises out of and in the course of, and is causally connected to, their employment.

The emergency amendment broadly covers any individuals employed as police, fire personnel, emergency medical technicians, or paramedics and all individuals employed and considered as first responders, health care providers engaged in patient care, corrections officers, and the crucial personnel identified under Section 1, Parts 7-12 of the Illinois March 20, 2020 stay-at-home executive order. The reference to Parts 7-12 of the stay-at-home order means employees who work for the following types of businesses will be considered “COVID-19 First Responders or Front Line Workers”:
Continue Reading Illinois makes workers’ compensation more accessible for COVID-19 essential workers

On April 15, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued an Order that mandates numerous workplace obligations on nearly all businesses permitted to maintain in-person operations in the Commonwealth.  The Order became effective immediately upon its issuance, with enforcement scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. on April 19, 2020.

Even if not immediately applicable to businesses that have temporarily suspended operations or have been operating in a remote environment, such businesses nevertheless should heed the Order because the new requirements could remain in place when the Commonwealth turns to “reopening” all Pennsylvania businesses.Continue Reading Latest challenge for essential businesses in Pennsylvania: Immediate compliance with new workplace requirements mandated by the Department of Health

As we detailed in a prior post, on March 20, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order barring virtually all “in-person” work within the Empire State. The Governor exempted from his executive order, however, certain essential businesses and entities providing essential services and functions. Such businesses and entities were permitted to continue operating.

On the heels of his prior edicts, Governor Cuomo has now issued an executive order requiring all essential businesses that remain open to furnish to their “in-person” employees “face coverings” that must be worn when such employees are “in direct contact with customers or members of the public.” The order places the burden of providing such “face coverings” on the employer (and at their expense). This latest New York executive order is similar to, but does not go as far as, a recent order issued by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.Continue Reading Essential New York businesses must provide “face coverings” to public-facing employees

As the Garden State continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 122 on April 8, 2020, imposing additional restrictions on businesses permitted to continue operating.  The Order takes effect at 8 p.m. on April 10, 2020 and expands on Governor Murphy’s earlier Stay at Home Order requiring the closure of non-essential retail businesses.  The Order imposes requirements on the operations of essential businesses, requires all employers to adopt policies pertaining to potential exposures in the workplace, and requires that owners of buildings where essential businesses operate implement cleaning protocols.
Continue Reading Governor Murphy issues Executive Order further limiting business operations in New Jersey

On April 3, 2020, Governor Michael Parson announced that Missouri residents will be required to stay at home to protect the public health and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in accordance with an order issued by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (“DHSS”) to take effect on April 6, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. CT through April 24, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. CT, unless extended. The full text of the order can be found here. Governor Parson had declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020, and directed the DHSS to mandate social distancing and discourage social gatherings of more than ten people. However, prior to the April 3 order, Missouri was one of only a few states nationwide that had yet to issue a statewide stay at home order.

Pursuant to the stay-at-home order, all Missouri residents should avoid leaving their homes or places of residence unless to work, to access food, prescription medication, health care, grocery stores, gas stations, banks or “other necessities,” or to engage in outdoor activity. The order also allows travel to and from their place of worship and permits the sale and transfer of firearms. Importantly, the order mandates that, at all times (including even when engaging in the above permitted activities), individuals must practice social distancing of at least six feet, and prohibits social gatherings of more than ten people at the same place and time.
Continue Reading Missouri issues statewide stay at home order to prevent spread of COVID-19

Effective 8 p.m. on April 1, 2020, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is under a stay at home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order, which encompasses all counties throughout the Commonwealth, prohibits individuals from leaving their place of residence except as needed to access, support, or provide life-sustaining business, emergency or government services. The order is currently slated to remain in effect through April 30, 2020.

This order comes on the heels of Governor Tom Wolf’s March 23, 2020 order, which initially provided for such restrictions in only seven of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Over the course of the following week, the original order was amended six times to eventually encompass 33 counties, yet was still limited to areas where community spread was assumed. Now, as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout Pennsylvania climbs to nearly 6,000, and the number of cases nationally rapidly approaches 200,000, Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order reaches every county in the Commonwealth.Continue Reading “Staying at home means you must stay home”: Pennsylvania’s governor issues state wide stay-at-home order

On March 30, 2020, in the latest effort to combat the COVID-19 virus, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued Mayor’s Order 2020-054 ordering District of Columbia residents to “stay at home” effective April 1, 2020. Previously, Mayor Bowser declared a public emergency [Mayor’s Order 2020-045] and a public health emergency [Mayor’s Order 2020-046], directed the closure of non-essential businesses, and prohibited public gatherings of more than 10 people [Mayor’s Order 2020-053]. The Mayor’s Orders are designed to keep the maximum number of people in their residences to the greatest extent feasible, while enabling essential activities, government services, and businesses to continue functioning.
Continue Reading District of Columbia residents ordered to “stay at home” to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus