Mecklenburg County Workers Now Required To Wear Masks Indoors

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NC — Mecklenburg County government employees are now required to wear a mask indoors and will soon be required to verify their vaccination status, according to a new policy issued by the county manager late Monday.

Mecklenburg County's has a high rate of COVID transmission in the community, reporting 2,170 new cases in the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. The new cases represent a nearly 80 percent increase in the span of a week, according to the health agency's COVID Data Tracker.

The new countywide policy, announced in an email sent by Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio, is requiring about 5,600 county government employees to verify their vaccination status beginning Sept. 1, or face weekly COVID testing, WSOC reported. The indoor mask requirement will be in place until the vaccination plan is fully implemented, the station said.

The new policy also requires non-vaccinated workers to wear masks outside when on Mecklenburg County property when physical distancing isn't possible, WFAE reported.

The new policy comes as the county marked a sad milestone.

"We are saddened to mark the 1000th COVID-19 death in Mecklenburg County," Gibbie Harris, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director, said in a statement Monday. "We extend our condolences to all of our residents and community members who have lost loved ones, friends and colleagues during the pandemic."

Vaccination rates in Mecklenburg County continue to trail statewide levels. Monday, 61 percent of adults in North Carolina had received at least one dose of vaccine, while 58 percent were considered fully vaccinated, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. In Mecklenburg County, 52 percent of adults had received one dose, while 48 percent were fully vaccinated, according to DHHS data.

"If you have not yet gotten the vaccine, please get it now," Harris said. "It will help protect you, your family, your friends and our community."

SEE ALSO:

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• Mecklenburg's COVID-19 Transmission Rate Is High, CDC Says