County official says news report on indoor mask mandate is wrong
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
A local television station in San Francisco incorrectly reported on Tuesday that county officials had passed an indoor mask mandate for residents and businesses here.
In a news story published on the website of KRON-TV (Channel 4), the station claimed the Board of Supervisors "voted to approve an indoor mask mandate," and that "before Tuesday afternoon, Solano County was the only Bay Area county without a mask mandate."
On Wednesday, a clerk for the Solano County Board of Supervisors confirmed to Solano NewsNet that a resolution was passed on Tuesday requiring county officials to adhere to indoor mask resolutions in other jurisdictions while also formally recognizing local-level mask mandates passed in Benicia and Vallejo.
But the official said the Board of Supervisors did not pass a county-wide mask mandate that covers residents and businesses in Solano County in towns other than Vallejo and Benicia, which is what the KRON-TV news report strongly implied.
The official directed Solano NewsNet to an article published on the website of the Daily Republic newspaper, which reported that Supervisor Erin Hannigan had initially raised the issue of implementing a county-wide indoor mask mandate for Solano County before backing off the topic, instead supporting a requirement that “county employees adhere to the rules of other jurisdictions.”
The Board of Supervisors approved that requirement in a resolution passed on Tuesday. But the resolution did not call for a county-wide mask mandate for residents and businesses.
It was not clear why KRON reported that an indoor mask mandate was issued in Solano County. A newsroom employee referred questions to Joshua Palefsky, the station’s assistant news director, who could not be reached by phone on Wednesday. Palefsky has not yet returned an e-mail message seeking comment.
KRON quietly corrected their story Wednesday afternoon. The updated story didn’t include a note explaining the previous error, nor did the news channel update its audience on social media, where the incorrect story was widely shared between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The news will likely come as a disappointment to local leaders, residents and businesses who have urged the Solano County Public Health Office to implement an indoor face mask mandate of their own.
The county’s top public health officer, Dr. Bela Matyas, has for months rejected calls to implement a county-wide face mask mandate for indoor public spaces, despite a rise in infections and hospitalizations linked to the so-called “Delta variant” of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Without citing specific evidence, Dr. Matyas has claimed that the rise in infections is sourced to private gatherings, not public spaces, and that an indoor mask mandate could potentially disenfranchise businesses in the county.
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