Face masks no longer required in Orange County but are “strongly recommended” health officials say

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People cross the street, some wearing masks, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic in Huntington Beach, California on April 25, 2020. (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - Orange County residents the next time you go out in public you may not need your face mask anymore.

On Thursday Orange County Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau issued a new order making it a “strong recommendation” for people in the county to wear a face covering instead of a mandate.

The new order would take effect at midnight.

Chau reiterated that the masks are not meant to protect the wearer, but to help keep them from spreading the highly contagious virus to others, particularly the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

Chau said the rate of new cases and the ability to handle a surge of patients in the county's hospitals are the two key metrics he is tracking. He wants to remain below the state standard of 8% of positive cases per 100,000 population. The county's current rate is 4.6%.

The county reported four more COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, raising the death total to 202. The county also reported 260 new coronavirus cases,
raising the total to 7,987. The number of people hospitalized dropped from 306 on Wednesday to 294, while the number of patients in intensive care dipped from 146 to 142.

Meanwhile, the number of fatalities involving skilled nursing facility residents
increased from 92 to 94. The agency has reported 25 such deaths over the past three days.

The number of people tested for the virus in the county stands at 172,072, with 3,726 documented recoveries.

The county's rising death toll hits as the health care agency has been roiled by defections from its executive staff.

Dr. Clayton Chau, the HCA's director, was named the county's chief health officer on Tuesday following the abrupt resignation of Dr. Nichole Quick, who had faced intense pressure over her order requiring face coverings to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Quick, who had held the job since last June and had also been assuming
some responsibilities of the director of public health services, resigned
Monday night after drawing criticism from some residents and two members of the Board of Supervisors who had repeatedly grilled her publicly regarding her
order to require face coverings as the county allowed some businesses to
reopen.

Chau was named to his new position by the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Quick had been receiving heightened security due to threats stemming
from her mask order. Protesters brought a poster with her photo embellished
with a Hitler mustache and swastikas to a Board of Supervisors meeting last
month.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim said Tuesday that he was “disappointed she left, but certainly there was no encouragement from myself or the board members to resign. That was a decision she made on her own.''

Kim said multiple members of his staff have been threatened since the beginning of the pandemic.

"I'm frustrated by that,'' Kim said. "None of our staff deserves that treatment.''

Quick's resignation marked the second major and abrupt departure in Orange County since the pandemic began. David Souleles retired in April as the
HCA's deputy director of public health services.

Supervisor Doug Chaffee said Quick resigned because "it was too much
for her.''

"She has three young children and she's been severely criticized by people who came out demanding her resignation, demonstrations in front of her home,'' he said Monday night.

Chaffee noted that for all the residents who show up at board meetings to complain about the mask order, officials have received a great deal of
expressions of support for it.

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