On Monday afternoon, St. Petersburg joined the list of Tampa Bay area cities requiring all patrons to wear face coverings inside businesses.
Mayor Rick Kriseman signed a mandatory mask order requiring face masks inside any enclosed businesses, for both employees and customers, in the city starting 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23.
The Pinellas County Commissioners are set to consider three variations of mask ordinances proposed by county officials on Tuesday. While each proposal entails a different variation of a mask requirement, all of them would require bars to limit indoor crowds, require masks for some indoor-business employees and mandate social distancing.
If a county-wide order for mask requirements is passed by the commission, Kriseman’s order would effectively be rendered moot.
St. Pete would join Hillsborough County, whose Emergency Policy Group voted to mandate the use of face masks throughout the county starting 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Kriseman’s order comes in addition to his announcement last week that all St. Pete business employees will be required to wear face masks while in areas of the business, starting June 19.
Not wanting to presume the outcome of the county meeting, Kriseman signed the order a day ahead of the meeting to ensure it went into effect, Kriseman spokesman Benjamin Kirby told the Tampa Bay Times.
As Florida’s COVID-19 numbers surge, officials are now beginning to pass regional and local mask requirements in an effort to limit the spread.
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This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2020.