Gov. Ralph Northam Mandates Face Coverings

Gov. Ralph Northam (VA) requiring anyone 10 years and older to wear face-coverings in public places. 

"Everyone will need to wear a face cover. When you're inside at a public place, starting this Friday. That's at a store, a barber shop, a restaurant on public transportation at a government building or anywhere where people can congregate in groups. I'm taking this step because science increasingly shows us that the virus spreads less easily when everyone is wearing face cover. There will be a few exceptions. If you're eating or drinking at a restaurant. If your exercise. If you have a health condition that keeps you from wearing a face cover or children under the age of 10. Let me speak as a doctor. I strongly recommend any child who is three years old or older should wear a face covering, to the extent possible. I want to be clear, this is about protecting those around us, especially our workers, and I'll speak more to that in just a minute, protecting the people around us, means face covers, as I said on Friday, they don't need to be medical grade, our health care providers need those, you can make your own. You can find a plan on the internet. And all you need is a piece of cloth and some rubber bands, you can all even grab a bandana. I know that even these steps are going to be difficult for some of our most vulnerable populations. Throughout this pandemic, we've seen community groups, step up to help out and I hope that can be the case here. If you're a group that can help provide face coverings to people who don't have them, please consider ways to do that. My administration is working to provide masks to targeted at risk populations, but every bit helps. This is a matter of public health. And as a result, any enforcement, that is needed will be done by our health officials. This is not a criminal matter. And our law enforcement our police and our sherrifs will not have a role in enforcing this. I'm not looking for people to get in trouble by not wearing a mask, but I am looking for people to please do the right thing."