Some Democrat controlled counties and cities have taken their mandates to the extreme, and that is the case in Santa Cruz, California.
And just in time for Thanksgiving, the county announced on Monday that it was invoking a new indoor mask mandate that extended into private homes, ABC 7 reported.
“An indoor mask mandate is now in effect in Santa Cruz County and it covers private settings like a home. If you are getting together with others who don’t live in the same household the county says you should mask up regardless of vaccination status. Businesses are also required to follow the guidelines. You can take off your mask when eating or drinking,” it said.
Aside from the blatant invasion of privacy concerns, who is going to enforce this? Are their going to be family and friends at the table calling the police on guests who are not wearing a mask?
“With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increasing as we move into the holidays and winter months, the Santa Cruz County Health Officer is issuing a Health Order, effective November 21, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., requiring all individuals to wear a face covering when indoors regardless of vaccination status,” a statement from the county said.
“Unfortunately, a potential winter surge appears to be a significant threat to the health and safety of our community,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said of the mandate. “As we look forward to spending time with those we love during the holidays, it is important to protect vulnerable friends and family members by wearing a mask indoors. Everyone who has not been vaccinated should get their first dose as soon as possible, and anyone who was vaccinated more than six months ago should seek out a booster.”
“Masks must be worn in private settings, including your home, when non-household members are present. To help assure compliance, all businesses and governmental entities must require employees to wear masks and post signage that is clearly visible and easy-to-read at all entry points for indoor settings informing the public of the mask requirement. Those working in a closed room or office alone or with members of their household do not have to wear a mask, and masks are not required during indoor activities where they cannot be worn safely such as eating, drinking, swimming, showering in a fitness facility, or obtaining medical or cosmetic services.
“The face covering order will remain in effect until is rescinded, superseded, or amended in writing by the Health Officer, taking into account hospitalizations, variants of concern, case and vaccination rates,” the statement said.
This is a long way from “two weeks to slow the spread” as the goalposts continue to move.
And if you do violate the mask order the county can imprison you.
“The violation of any provision of this Order constitutes an imminent threat and menace to public health, constitutes a public nuisance, and is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both,” it said.
The fact is this will continue as long as the people allow it to continue. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the polar opposite of California Gov. Newsom, stepped in an prevented such actions in his state this month.
During a press event in Brandon, Florida, DeSantis said it’s the United States of America, not the United Schoolboards or County Commissions of America.
“Thing is going to crash and burn, it’s going down. (Cheering and Applause) That’s for sure. And I’ll be able to put a lot — I’ll be willing to put a lot of money on that. So we have that, but we’re also Florida, we’re challenging the mandate on federal contractors,” DeSantis said.
“You can have a lot of people lose their jobs as federal contractors in January, so we have that that we’re doing and that’s in Tampa in federal district court and we think that we’re going to be successful there. What with the state of Florida is done under Attorney General Moody’s leadership is also filed suit in Pensacola challenging HHS’s nurse and doctor mandate for hospitals,” he said.
“What they’re saying is you have to force every nurse and everybody to — to do Covid jabs or you lose Medicare, Medicaid, all the funding, and obviously they wouldn’t be able to — to work if that were the case and the — and the — the institutions would collapse. And so, we think that that’s illegal. We think it’s unconstitutional. But here’s what really bugs me about this one,” he continued.
“When you talk about nurses and stuff, the whole reason they launch 15 days to slow the spread, the whole reason the U.S. went down the road and lot of other places are still trying to pull out of is because they didn’t want the hospitals to be overrun. That was the reason they did it. And so you had to make sure you preserve hospital — hospital capacity. So that’s what they said then. Now they’re going to do this mandate and some nurses — many nurses could lose their job,” DeSantis added.
“So you’re actually making the hospitals short-staffed as a result of the mandate. So how does this make any sense when you say you’re trying to preserve? This is about power, this is about control. That’s what they’re doing. Because it makes absolutely no sense to be able to do this when you’re talking about what would actually make sense for people. And so we’re very happy to be able to say that — that we are fighting that as well — and I said it from the very beginning of this, you needed a legal response, but you also needed a legislative response,” DeSantis declared.
