Just like the last time around, the Bay Area-wide mandate to wear a mask indoors in public spaces beginning Aug. 3 does come with enforcement.
Santa Clara County's online portal to report mask violations from businesses is back, too, alongside the new order aimed at limiting the COVID-19 delta variant's spread amid a statewide spike in cases and hospitalizations.
"Throughout the pandemic, most of the enforcement efforts have been complaint-based," Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams said Monday in a press conference with reporters. "And we do have our portal, and we anticipate continuing with the same general approach that we've taken."
Williams said the county’s enforcement team will continue to follow up on public complaints as it has throughout the pandemic, which effectively began when Santa Clara County, six others and the City of Berkeley issued stay-at-home orders last March.
Bay Area counties, including Santa Clara, will continue to take an educational approach rather than a punitive one. Still, Williams admitted county residents who don't comply with the latest order could be subject to fines.
Given Santa Clara County's "very strong adherence" to previous mask mandates, Williams said Monday he doesn't anticipate any issues when the order goes into effect a day later.
"This isn't something novel, or difficult or complicated," Williams said. "It's actually pretty straightforward."
Entering Monday, Santa Clara County averaged fewer new cases per 100,000 residents over the previous seven days (10.7) than the state (16.7). The county also had a lower test positivity rate (3.1%) than California (6.7%).
Williams said Santa Clara County residents are pretty used to wearing masks by now.
"And I think we all want to see the community transmission of COVID come down with this delta variant," he said.
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