New emergency order requires masks in homes, private gatherings
From Delaware Live
When Gov. John Carney rounded up all the modifications of his State of Emergency Order and put them into one new document, it added a sentence:
“A private residence where there is an indoor gathering of more than 10 people who do not reside at that property shall be considered an indoor space open to the public for purposes of this Order.”
That is new, confirmed Carney spokesman Jon Starkey, “though we have had some restrictions on private gatherings for a while.”
The new rule comes as Labor Day weekend is heading into full swing, with the last parties and cookouts of summer.
The new verbiage showed up Thursday, when Carney issued a press release saying that he had signed the 27th modification to his State of Emergency, combining all active COVID-19 restrictions into a single order, creating an Omnibus Executive Order.
The modification also formalized reopening bar service in Delaware beach communities and required that businesses more strictly enforce face covering requirements among their employees.
The new addition — in the section about face coverings — essentially requires homeowners and guests to follow the same protocols that restaurants and other public places do: wearing masks unless eating, but making sure the face coverings are on if you are moving around.