Mecklenburg Commissioners To Vote On Countywide Mask Mandate

CHARLOTTE, NC — Masks should be required and worn in all indoor spaces, according to a COVID-19 group of Mecklenburg County community stakeholders.

The recommendation, which will now go to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners for a vote Wednesday, comes as the City of Charlotte is set to institute a citywide indoor mask mandate Wednesday.

A mandate requiring masks be worn indoors should be required throughout the county, according to the recommendation made Monday night by the Mecklenburg County COVID-19 Policy Group. The group consists of members representing the county, City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, MEDIC, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management, Atrium Health, Novant Health, as well as the towns of Pineville, Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Mint Hill and Matthews.

"I support today’s recommendation by the Policy Group to create a county-wide mask mandate and I will be instituting a City of Charlotte mandate this Wednesday," Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said Monday. "We have to remember there are people who are not able to get vaccinated, so all we must mask up to help stop this virus."

Mecklenburg County remains in the "red" zone, with COVID-19 cases jumping 87 percent in the last two weeks, the county's public health director, Gibbie Harris, said during a news conference Monday.

"We've seen eight deaths over the last two weeks, but unfortunately over the weekend, we had five more that happened in our community," Harris said.

The need for a countywide masking mandate stems from the lack of adherence to current masking recommendations as schools are resuming classes —a situation that stands to spark significant transmission in the county, particularly among younger individuals, she said.

"We continue to see disparities in our community, and we continue to see a number of individuals not masking indoors, which has been a recommendation up to this point," Harris said.

"All of our children are going back to school, many of whom cannot be vaccinated," she added. About half of those children who are eligible to receive a vaccine have not been vaccinated. "The bottom line is, we need people to get vaccinated and we need people to wear masks," Harris said

The policy group's mask mandate recommendation now goes to the Board of County Commissioners, which is set to hold a special meeting on the issue Wednesday, Aug. 18 at 3 p.m. That meeting may be viewed here.

SEE ALSO:

• ICU Beds Filling Up In Charlotte Metro, Around North Carolina
• Gov. Cooper, DHHS Press NC School Districts To Mandate Masks
  
• Nearly 4,000 New COVID Cases In Mecklenburg This Week: CDC