Imperial County businesses gearing up for mask mandate

Brownie’s Diner in Brawley said it’s ready for the mask mandate; already requiring diners to wear a mask - 13 On Your Side’s Vince Ybarra reports 

BRAWLEY, Calif. (KECY, KYMA) - The Imperial County Public Health Department (ICPHD) announced that masks will be required for all residents, vaccinated or not, starting Wednesday. 

Some businesses in Imperial County are already making masks a requirement since the announcement. Brawley diner, Brownie’s, said it is ready for the switch back to masks. 

“Starting today, all my employees are wearing masks. We did it before, it was a year ago. They’ve all been vaccinated. We just go by the rules,” said Rebollar. 

Rebollar said he hasn’t had any issues in the past with diners not wanting to mask up. He said that if a diner doesn’t have a mask, they have some on hand to help them out and make sure they mask up. 

ICPHD said the board of supervisors met to discuss reinstating the mask mandate for Valley residents. This comes just as other counties in California have mandated masks indoors— again. 

Imperial County relies on other medical facilities nearby, and since other counties are seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases, resources and supplies become limited for Valley locals, per ICPHD. This prompted the board of supervisors to implement an indoor mask mandate. 

Wednesday on 13 On Your Side at 6 p.m., Vince Ybarra details more of what Brownie’s does to make sure their diners are staying safe.