On Monday, the Graphics Division of Palm Beach County mailed a total set of 11,477 envelopes enclosed with free facemasks to county residents.
The decision to send out the masks commenced after a unanimous decision was made by Palm Beach County commissioners who approved a mask mandate in public places as a preventative measure for combatting the spread of coronavirus.
The mandatory facial covering order took effect on June 25th, requiring residents to wear masks in public places, business establishments, county, municipal government facilities, and on transportation sites like Palm Tran.
According to WPTV, there has been a backlash from residents who filed lawsuits against the county for imposing on the freedom of their constitutional rights.
Residents in the western communities of Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay, and Canal Point were the first to be receiving the masks.
According to Palm Beach County’s official Twitter page, a photo shows that each envelope getting sent out to the 658,995 residences contains two pleated masks and two cloth masks embedded with the slogan “Combat COVID.” In addition, the envelopes include an 8.5 x 11 flier containing safety information about the facial coverings required per Palm Beach County Emergency Order 2020-012.
The number of envelopes sent out exclusively to residences only applies to those who are accepting mail using the U.S. Postal Service Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) program.
Vacant properties or people with forwarding notices are not included in the mailing process.
Over the next four weeks, the county expects to mail masks to more than 658,000 residents’ homes.