Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said Monday that county officials are reviewing a new executive order by Gov. Brian Kemp allowing local governments to issue mask mandates.
In a release issued late Monday afternoon by county spokesman Ross Cavitt, Boyce said that if the county were to impose a mask mandate, it would require three public hearings on proposed code amendments, which would have to be approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
As Georgia’s COVID-19 case load has soared this summer, dozens of Georgia mayors and county governments issued mandates in defiance of a previous order by Kemp not to supersede his orders, which do not include a statewide mask mandate.
Among them was Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Kemp sued the city before withdrawing that lawsuit and issuing a revised order over the weekend.
Boyce has been reluctant to require Cobb citizens to wear masks in public, and reiterated that position Monday. He said in a statement via Cavitt that “issuing a mandate would place the burden on the county’s police department to enforce it. I’m reluctant to place that burden on a department that is already understaffed and facing other challenges caused by the pandemic.”
Cavitt’s statement said Boyce noted that none of those jurisdictions with mask mandates have issued citations. Boyce, Cavitt said, “plans on letting commissioners weigh in on whether they want to move forward on a countywide mandate.”
Under the new order, Cobb could include a mandate for anyone entering county government facilities. Kemp’s order also extends local mask mandates to private property if a county meets a threshold of COVID-19 cases.
That’s an average of 100 positive cases per 100,000 population over the previous two weeks, and nearly all of Georgia’s 159 counties meet that threshold. Cobb has averaged 351 cases per 100,000 people over the last 14 days.
It’s a figure that Cobb school officials also have cited for starting the school year online-only, as virtual instruction began Monday.
Kemp’s order would require local governments to get the permission of private property owners before a mask mandate could be imposed. Fines for violators of any local order would be punishable by up to $50 after a warning.
At the end of July, Cobb had reported 11,206 positive COVID-19 cases, with 60 percent of them in July alone. County officials stepped up a “nice mask ask” for the public, also stressing hand-washing and physical distancing, to help slow the spread of the virus.
Through the first half of August, Cobb has reported 3,687 more cases. The number of deaths in the county has grown from 297 at the end of July to 339 as of Sunday, second only to 472 deaths in Fulton County.
DeKalb commissioners in July approved in a 6-1 vote a mask mandate that would require citizens on a second citation to attend a COVID-19 prevention class. Anyone who refused would be fined $250.
Citizens also could go before a judge and claim a conscientious objector’s exception for health, religious or ethical reasons.
Other states in the South have recently imposed statewide mask mandates, including Alabama.
Today’s Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 daily report can be found here.
Related content
- Kemp issues order allowing local mask mandates
- The East Cobb Open for Business Directory
- East Cobb News COVID-19 Resource Page
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Sylvia says: “If you don’t prefer to wear a mask and you’re not sick, then don’t – but don’t shame those who do.”. ..its not about shaming others, it’s the fact that you can be “sick” (i.e., have Covid) and be spreading it to other’s without even knowing it, especially if you’re not wearing a mask in public.
The more power we give government over us, the more freedom we’re going to lose. As soon as they know they can get away with this, they’ll try to get away with something else. As soon as they get away with that, they’ll overstep their boundaries again. Personal responsibility needs to rule the day; if you’re sick, then stay home. If you’re not sick, then be careful but live your life. If you prefer to wear a mask, then do it – but don’t shame those who don’t. If you don’t prefer to wear a mask and you’re not sick, then don’t – but don’t shame those who do.
Especially given the people currently in a financial bind because of the rules and regulations imposed on us by this virus, a $250 fine is the epitome of insensitivity and ludicrous actions on the part of our government officials. Especially with allergy, cold, and flu season coming up – and the probability that many of those symptoms will be diagnosed as c-19, it’s even more so. The fact that testing is unreliable but counted in “The Numbers”, anyway, puts the icing on the cake.
Look at a map of the county that ECN has published; there are a couple of hot spots, a few cold spots, and some in the middle, going by zip code. Are the people in the “cold spots” going to be treated like the people in the “hot spots” and, if so, then what’s the incentive to do it better?
Immune systems are not going to get stronger without exposure to viruses and bacteria; sanitizing everything and avoiding person-to-person contact does not strengthen that immunity. When people start interacting, of course the numbers will increase – people are building up their immune systems. The death numbers are going down – even with the riders on how it’s reported on a death certificate – and that’s the important part. Left to its own devices, the virus will level out.
Wash your hands. If you’re sick, then stay home. Respect others people’s sensitivities and realize that you don’t have to agree to get along. Above all, realize that freedoms we’re used to are being stripped away by mandates like this and fines if we don’t agree. I do not think that I’m alone in this feeling, and we all need to come out at these public meetings and let them know how we feel.
Quiet down, everyone. uniquely unqualified Sylvia is going to give us her hot take on the situation. After all, she knows more about this than the doctors whose job it is to study it.