No Cobb mask mandate Archives

Cobb continues ‘nice mask ask’ campaign in lieu of a mandate

August 24, 2020 11:14 AM by Wendy Parker

*Although Kroger is one of many businesses requiring East Cobb customers to wear masks, there isn’t a county government mandate to do so.*

When Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said last week he was asking county staff to review Gov. Brian Kemp’s latest order allowing local governments to pass mask mandates, he said he would be reluctant to impose one.

Not just because he thought it would be hard for public safety to enforce, he said, but also because he didn’t think he could get his colleagues to go along with it.

Boyce said a mask mandate would require public hearings and commissioners’ approval of a new ordinance.

Both of East Cobb’s commissioners said last week they don’t support that either.

JoAnn Birrell said in a response to a query from East Cobb News that “I concur with the governor’s order and the Chairman.”

Kemp’s order allows local governments to issue broad mandates if a county averaged more than 100 COVID-19 per 100,000 people over a 14-day period.

Cobb’s average as of Sunday for the previous two weeks was 313 cases per 100,000, as that number continues to trend down.

No Cobb mask mandate

That’s a metric that public health officials have said designates “high community spread” and it’s a key indicator Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale has said will guide a return to classroom instruction. He’s targeted getting that number under 200.

The Cobb GIS office has created a new map letting users gauge community spread data in the county and around the state. When you click on a county, it shows the cases per 100,000 over the previous 14 days, and has color coding to indicate the severity of the spread in a particular county.

Even if a local government issued a community mandate, Kemp’s order still requires the consent of property owners.

Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb also said of a broader mask requirement that “I don’t think it’s enforceable. It’s better to work with businesses and get them to do it.”

That sentiment is part of what Boyce has called a “nice ask mask” campaign that includes the use of billboards, as seen below, and social media messages, including photoshopped images above that include a mask on the Big Chicken.

Kemp’s order does allow local governments to impose mandates on public property, and Boyce said Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris can issue a mask order for county buildings.

Birrell said whatever McMorris may come up with, “I support her decisions.”

Shortly after Kemp’s order, the city of Smyrna imposed a mask mandate. Sandy Springs and Roswell orders require masks only in city buildings.

Most Cobb commissioners have been urging public mask use in their public statements and e-mail newsletters, and they often wear them during their public meetings.

Like Boyce, Ott said he has noticed high levels of voluntary mask compliance when he’s out and about.

“We just can’t be thinking up laws that are unenforceable,” Ott said.

No Cobb mask mandate

Boyce: No Cobb mask mandate, asks for voluntary compliance

July 10, 2020 3:51 PMJuly 10, 2020 1:40 PM by Wendy Parker

After several jurisdictions in Georgia—including the City of Atlanta—issued face mask mandates this week, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said Friday he won’t be doing that. Mike Boyce, Cobb Commission Chairman

In his weekly newsletter, Boyce said while “there are those who support imposing a county mandate on face coverings,” Gov. Brian Kemp’s executive order on June 30 states that cities and counties cannot take public health actions “that are more or less restrictive” than the state.

Boyce also said that while other elected officials are imposing mask requirements in response to rising COVID-19 cases in Georgia, “I cannot support this kind of governance. Moreover, while such a mandate looks great on paper, it puts an unsustainable burden on public safety personnel. They would be the ones responsible for enforcing this behavior on more than 760,000 people in the County. This expectation is unreasonable.”

Boyce said he’s making a “nice ask to wear a mask” by encouraging citizens to wear a face covering whenever possible “as a matter of personal and public health.”

Last week, Gov. Kemp went on a statewide tour encouraging mask use, but said he wouldn’t be making it mandatory, even though he warned rising COVID cases could affect the college football season. Kemp also said on Thursday that local mandates are not enforceable.

Other cities that have issued mask mandates include Athens-Clarke County, Savannah and Brookhaven.

Georgia’s COVID-19 cases have spiked in recent weeks, to more than 106,000 in all. On Thursday, 2,837 more confirmed cases were reported, and for the past week the test positivity rate in Georgia is nearly 13 percent.

UPDATED:

On Friday the Georgia Department of Public Health reported a one-day record of 4,484 new reported COVID-19 cases and 35 additional deaths statewide.

Cobb, which issued a public health alert last week, has seen its cases go up from around 5,000 then to 6,369 as of Thursday.

By Friday, Cobb’s case totals had grown by 339 to 6,708. The single-day high for Cobb is 556 new cases on Monday, July 6, likely reflecting a reporting lag due to the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Georgia has 2,965 deaths, although the seven-day average for fatalities is the lowest it’s been since March. A total of 250 deaths have been in Cobb County, two more than Thursday, and second in Georgia to 321 deaths in Fulton County.

ORIGINAL REPORT CONTINUES:

Boyce said voluntary mask-wearing to help slow the spread of virus “is a learned behavior that is better achieved by cooperative engagement rather than legislative fiat. I believe our efforts will ultimately achieve the desired outcome of normalizing the wearing of face coverings. This health precaution is one that is reinforced by a sense of personal accountability and respect for the health of others.”