San Juan Regional Health

San Juan Regional Medical Center, San Juan County and the City of Farmington are coming together in an effort to protect our community and asking everyone to follow President Trump’s recent recommendation to wear a mask when going out in public. The CDC is now recommending wearing a mask or cloth face covering in public settings to help reduce community-based transmission of COVID-19.

While a mask won’t protect you from becoming ill, it does help protect others around you in the event that you have COVID-19 and aren’t showing symptoms yet. Wearing a mask should not give you a sense of false security. Everyone should still follow the state of New Mexico’s orders to stay at home whenever possible. This is just another tool in our toolbox to help us flatten the curve and slow the spread of this virus. Remember, when you do need to go out and you are wearing a mask in public, you should still practice social distancing (staying at least six feet apart) and continue washing your hands and using hand sanitizer. 

Some additional important points to remember when wearing a mask:

• The general public should not be using surgical masks or N-95 respirators that are critically needed by healthcare workers
• A simple cloth face covering is sufficient to slow the spread of the virus
• There are many people in our community making these masks
• If you’d like to make your own, we have attached a step by step instruction sheet
• Masks should be laundered regularly to ensure they are clean and free of germs
• Do not to remove the mask and set it down as this increases the risk of transmission when putting back on
• It is also important to avoid touching the mask without first washing or cleaning your hands with alcohol based hand sanitizer