Health officials encouraging multigenerational families to wear masks in home

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — People can be found wearing masks in stores and restaurants. But now White House officials say people should consider wearing them at home, especially those who live in a multigenerational home.

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Monday that those who live in multigenerational homes should “really consider wearing a mask at home.”

Stephanie Laureano lives with her 24-year-old niece who has asthma. She said the family does not wear a mask.

“I actually don’t believe in masks, and I’m a registered nurse,” Laureano said.

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Edgar Aguirre lives with his 70-year-old mom, but also said he will not wear a mask because they “are never next to each other.”

Orange County is approaching 30,000 COVID-19 cases. On June 1, there were about 3,000.

Orange County health officer Dr. Raul Pino said multigenerational families are a big contributor to the spread of COVID-19 in Orange County.

“Inside the home when interacting, elderly people with preexisting conditions should be protected,” he said.

So far, 239 people in Orange County have died of COVID-19. Most of those people were 65 years and older.

Read: Orange County mask mandate may last until there’s a COVID-19 vaccine, likely in spring, health officer says

Pino tracks which underlying health conditions may have contributed to those deaths. He found 75% of the people who died suffered from hypertension, and cardiac disease was associated with 65% of the deaths. Diabetes was linked to 51%, and chronic lung disease was linked to 24%.

Data also shows that 3% of people reported no underlying medical conditions.

Read: Florida officials urge Gov. DeSantis to issue statewide mask mandate

Laureano said, “The majority of us need to get exposed to the virus so that we can develop the antibodies and I think that’s going to be the way that we’re going to subside the virus.”

Pino said today fewer people are going to the emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms, and related hospitalizations are also down.

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