Stafford Asks Businesses To Require Customers Wear Face Masks

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — Stafford officials recommended that essential businesses require customers to wear cloth face masks. The Office of Emergency Management also asked that they enforce social distancing as a precaution for the novel coronavirus.

Officials issued the guidance to all essential businesses. The cloth face coverings are not surgical or N95 masks. The Center for Disease Control recommends reserving those for health-care workers and other medical first responders.

Acceptable cloth face coverings can be fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials. Examples include bandanas, scarves and any other cloth material that can be secured around a person's nose and mouth areas, according to officials.

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Cloth face coverings shouldn't be placed on children under age2, anyone who has trouble breathing or anyone unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance, according to the CDC.

Wearing a mask isn't a fail-safe against spreading the virus, according to New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. But she repeated the CDC's recommendation to wear masks because people who are asymptomatic may carry the virus. Read more: Wear A Mask! 4 Things NJ Wants You To Do In Coronavirus Outbreak

The Ocean County Health Department reported Sunday that 61 have tested positive for the virus in Stafford, along with 58 in Barnegat.

Governor Phil Murphy announced 3,663 new cases and 86 more deaths Monday. The deaths included nine people in Ocean County, bringing the county's death toll to 71.

Murphy noted a decline in the growth rate in cases — from 24 percent day-over-day last Monday to 12 percent this Monday. State officials have reported 41,090 total positive cases and 1,003 deaths.

"The curve is flattening," Murphy said. "But, this is no time to spike any footballs or to take our foot off the gas. We still have a week-and-a-half to go, at least, until we hit the peak. This isn’t over — not by a long shot."

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