JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In one of his first acts as President, Joe Biden signed an executive order, requiring masks on federal property. He’s also challenging all Americans to wear one for the next 100 days.
RELATED: Read the full mandate here
The President’ can’t force cities and states to impose mask mandates, but can control what happens on federal property. It includes post offices, the VA, national parks, and planes.
President Biden signed his first executive order, called the “100 days masking challenge.” It directs federal agencies to comply with C-D-C guidelines on mask-wearing and physical distancing and it applies to federal buildings, federal lands.
The U.S. has reported nearly 200,000 new COVID-19 infections and 3,000 deaths a day on a seven-day rolling average.
When it comes to military bases, the executive order would be a major change. Currently, the military branches require everyone on base to wear face coverings when they cannot maintain six feet of physical distance in public areas or work centers.
In our region, the local areas that are not under a mask mandate, nearly everywhere except Jacksonville, are most likely to notice changes. Mask will now be required in places like post offices, some libraries, and on all federal properties.
This mandate only applies to federal property, but communities can still impose their own rules. In Jacksonville, there is a mask mandate in effect through at least January 25th.
Thursday marked one year since the CDC reported the first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. The day before, the United States recorded 400,000 total deaths since March.