Beverly Hills orders ALL residents to wear face masks if they are walking outside to ‘protect and ultimately save lives’ amid coronavirus outbreak
- Beverly Hills authorities added drivers must wear a mask if their window is open
- Mayor Lester Friedman said the action will ‘help protect families’ and ‘save lives’
- Los Angeles has recorded 233 deaths and 7,955 cases of coronavirus so far
Beverly Hills has ordered all residents to wear face masks when they are walking outside and driving with the car windows open as it attempts to curb the spread of coronavirus.
A scarf, bandana or cloth covering the mouth will be sufficient when the order comes into force at 6pm today, city authorities said, with surgical masks ‘encouraged’ for health and emergency workers only.
Celebrities including Simon Cowell, pregnant Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have mansions in the southern Californian city.
Beverly Hills, southern California, will bring the measures into force at 6pm today. Pictured above is Emma Roberts, who has a home in the city, as she shops for toilet paper and paper towels in a grocery store eight miles away
Simon Cowell, who owns a $12 million mansion in the city, was pictured wearing a face mask as he shopped for essentials 25 miles away
Justin Bieber was seen visiting a Beverly Hills clinic with his wife Hailey Baldwin on March 13
Announcing the protective measures yesterday, Mayor Lester Friedman said: ‘We believe this action will help protect and ultimately save lives.
‘While we continue to ask our community members to remain at home, those who do go outside and the people they encounter will be safer.’
The city has also ordered the closure of all parks from 6pm on April 11, to limit interactions between its inhabitants.
The measures will add further restrictions to current regulations, which require face masks to be worn inside essential businesses.
Los Angeles county, with its star-studded and jet-setting inhabitants, has been hit hard by coronavirus. It has confirmed 223 deaths and 7,955 cases so far.
Beverly Hills has recorded 71 cases, according to figures published by Los Angeles Public Health.
Celebrities Emma Roberts and Malin Akerman wear face masks as they shop for essentials in Los Angeles, California, before the order was announced
Jennifer Garner cycles with her son in Brentwood, California. Both are wearing face masks
Justin Bieber was spotted wearing a face mask when he visited a medical centre in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife Hailey Baldwin on March 13.
Simon Cowell was also seen wearing a face mask as he shopped in Malibu, 25 miles from Beverly Hills where he has a $12million home.
Emma Roberts was photographed donning a face mask at a grocery store in Los Feliz, California, eight miles from her $3.5million Beverly Hills mansion.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended citizens should wear face masks while in pubic on Saturday last week.
Actor Ben Affleck carries books and a picture while wearing a face mask as he walks through Santa Monica, California
The US is continuing to reel from the coronavirus outbreak hitting a death toll of 16,715 Thursday evening, a jump of nearly 2,000 fatalities of the deadly virus over the past 24 hours
President Donald Trump initially disputed the recommendation, declaring it was ‘voluntary’ before adding ‘I’m not choosing to do it’.
By Monday, however, he appeared to have backtracked after First Lady Melania tweeted the CDC’s advice and said she would don a face mask.
‘She feels that way’, Trump said. ‘I would wear one… A lot of people do. Again, it’s a recommendation and I understand that recommendation and I’m ok with it.’
The US is at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, having recorded 16,715 deaths and 469,450 cases of the disease.