Partial mask mandate could be issued in Columbus as COVID-19 cases continue rising, mayor says

As Georgia surpassed 100,000 coronavirus cases this week, Columbus officials are considering a partial mask mandate that would require face coverings inside government buildings throughout the city.

“We get it that masks really help and we want to be able to continue to serve the citizens, and we have to have folks here staffed and healthy,” Mayor Skip Henderson said. “So I think the best way to do that is just to try to control the access of our city building, so that anybody that comes in will have to wear a mask for the time they’re in here.”

Any potential mask policy would be aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the Chattahoochee Valley. As of July 6, 100 patients are being treated for coronavirus in Muscogee County hospitals, according to data released from the mayor’s office. That’s up from 19 in mid-May.

Muscogee County currently has more than 2,344 positive cases and 55 county residents have died from the coronavirus, according to the latest data from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The new mask policy would require that individuals entering government buildings wear a mask and keep it over their nose and mouth for the duration of their time inside the building. The policy would apply to all facilities where city workers are employed in Columbus, including the Government Center, the Government Annex Building, the Public Safety Building and the Public Works building.

Details for the potential mask mandate are still being discussed, Henderson said, and the city needs to secure a large number of masks to provide for those who show up to a government building without one.

How would a mask mandate be enforced?

The penalty for noncompliance would likely be some kind of citation, Henderson said. Not wearing a mask carries a $500 fine in Savannah, which passed an emergency order requiring masks last week. Athens, which made masks mandatory Tuesday evening, passed a progressive fine of $25 for a first offense, $50 for a second and $100 for a third.

The legality of enforcing a mask requirement for government buildings alone is a continuing concern for officials. Citations issued for not wearing a mask may not hold up in court. Judges may argue that citations are illegal under Gov. Brian Kemp’s mandate prohibiting local rules that are “more or less restrictive” than state mandates, Henderson said.

“We’re not against issuing some type of mandated masks in certain situations. In fact, I think you’ll see that in Columbus in the near future, but we just want to make sure if we do that we’ve done it in a way that puts us on solid legal footing to that end,” Henderson said. “We’ll probably start with our government buildings, we wouldn’t ask the citizens to do anything that the government is not doing as well.”

Local officials are in communication with the governor’s office concerning enforcement difficulties, as well as Columbus’ state representatives and Savannah and Athens officials.

‘We believe in masks’

Henderson has grown more vocal in recent weeks about encouraging mask wearing in public as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Columbus continue to grow at a faster rate. Last week, Henderson’s office began posting charts on Facebook twice a week showing the current number of hospitalizations.

In a press conference July 1, Henderson expressed frustration with the lack of universal mask wearing in the city.

“My frustration is in the fact that there’s a lot of people who seem to be disregarding that we have the control, we have the power to stop the spread,” Henderson said.

At the same press conference, Henderson said the city was open to considering a mask policy but did not at that time have plans to make masks mandatory.

“We just didn’t see any mandate coming, we believe in masks, wholeheartedly, we’ve always been willing to consider a local ordinance to require them,” Henderson said. “Our only concern has been the enforcement, both from a practical and manpower side and, most importantly, from a legality perspective, to make sure that if we’re going to enforce something to the way we’re doing it is legal.”