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Village of Indiantown votes to require masks in public

Council members also voted to spend up to $10,000 to purchase masks to distribute to the community.
Posted at 12:03 AM, Apr 29, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-29 00:31:48-04

INDIANTOWN, Fla. — The Village of Indiantown is now joining the list of Flordia cities requiring the public to wear face coverings in public.

Council members voted Tuesday to require individuals to wear masks, bandanas, or any kind of similar covering over their faces that can prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Indiantown has 33 confirmed cases of COVID-19, but residents fear there are more to come.

Council members also voted to spend up to $10,000 to purchase masks to distribute to the community.

They also voted to spend up to $10,000 on education and information efforts, such as creating more informative signs and videos in multiple languages.

Cleveland Clinic Martin Health also said it is donating 5,000 masks to Indiantown.

Council members expressed the worry that there are many households in Indiantown where multiple families or large families live under one roof.

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If someone in one of those homes tests positive, all residents are not tested unless they show symptoms. They are otherwise only presumed positive.

The number of confirmed cases does not include the number of people presumed to be positive.

The Florida Department of Health in Martin County said it will be meeting Thursday and will discuss expanding testing in Indiantown.

Mendoza hopes masks will make the public safer, including employees at stores in Indiantown.

People are still flocking to area stores like the local market and Family Dollar store.

“Any grocery store, Walmart, Target, you see the same thing happening,” Rosa said.

There are exceptions to wearing masks, including for people who have underlying health issues which could be made worse by wearing a mask. People can ride bikes and run without a mask, so long as they are social distancing.