Columbus mayor says mask mandate still applies after CDC change. When will it go away?
Columbus’ mask mandate remains in effect despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s newest guidance issued Thursday, but it will likely be repealed once the county’s 14-day COVID-19 case rate drops, Mayor Skip Henderson told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Henderson said the removal was planned before the CDC announced fully vaccinated Americans could go most places without masks, but added the new federal guidance made him “feel better about the decision.”
Under Gov. Brian Kemp’s COVID-19 executive orders, a Georgia county can enact a mask ordinance if its 14-day COVID-19 case rate is equal to or greater than 100 per 100,000 people.
A repeal of the local ordinance would come several days after Columbus dips below the threshold, Henderson said.
Henderson enacted Columbus’ mandate in August 2020, requiring that face masks or coverings be worn in Muscogee County during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain exemptions were granted, and businesses were allowed to opt out of enforcement. Kemp’s latest executive order, in effect from May 1-30, lifted many of the state’s remaining coronavirus restrictions, including one that required workers to wear masks at restaurants.
Henderson has previously suspended the county’s mask order after falling below the threshold, but said this change would likely be more permanent.
“We will likely consider repealing that ordinance,” he said. “Barring something out of left field and seeing numbers spike ... then we would always consider putting it back. I wouldn’t see this next time as a suspension. I would look at it as a repeal.”
As of May 13, Muscogee County’s 14-day COVID-19 case rate is 111 per 100,000 people, and 21% of the county’s residents are fully vaccinated, according to data provided by the Georgia Department of Public Health. Roughly 29% of Georgia residents and 35% of the nation are fully vaccinated.
“At some point, I think we just have to assume that everybody who wants the vaccine has had it,” he said. “I think we have to start opening things up and letting people get back to normal.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 5:58 PM.