BREAKING: Charlotte residents will be ordered to mask up again
City rule could take effect as soon as Wednesday, county leaders say; would apply to towns beginning in a couple weeks.
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Masks to be required in all indoor public places such as grocery stores, retail shops, restaurants; similar to old mask mandate
by Tony Mecia
Charlotte residents will be required to wear masks in indoor public settings again — even if they’re vaccinated — starting as soon as Wednesday.
At a news conference this afternoon, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and county commissioners Chairman George Dunlap plan to issue a new proclamation for Charlotte requiring masks because of the rising numbers of Covid cases and hospitalizations. The move follows similar action in Boone, Durham, Chapel Hill, Asheville, Greensboro and Raleigh in the last week. Gov. Roy Cooper has held off on imposing a mask mandate statewide and said he prefers to focus on increasing vaccinations.
“We need people to get vaccinated, and we need people to wear masks,” county health director Gibbie Harris said. “Those are the two things that are going to help us manage this situation and keep us from continuing to escalate in our community.”
In addition, county commissioners on Wednesday will consider adopting an emergency health rule that would require masks in Mecklenburg’s six towns and unincorporated areas 10 days later, Diorio said. But Charlotte’s order could take effect as soon as Wednesday, after the order is written, based on a proclamation by Lyles and Dunlap. Neither attended the news conference to answer questions.
How it will work: The new mask rule will be similar to the state’s order that was in effect from June 2020 until May of this year. It will apply to public, indoor spaces, including retail shops, grocery stores and restaurants. Businesses would be expected to enforce the rule and could call police to evict trespassers who do not comply.
Follows closed-door meeting: The decision followed a closed-door meeting of the county’s Covid policy group, composed of representatives from the city, county, towns and hospital systems. A group of 13 Charlotte media organizations — including the city’s major TV and radio news stations, The Charlotte Observer, Axios Charlotte and The Ledger — asserted in a letter to the county last week that the state’s open meetings laws required the meeting to be open to the public. Diorio said she and the county attorney reviewed the letter and were satisfied that the meeting could legally be held in private.
The plan for a Charlotte mask order revives a mask requirement similar to the one statewide that lasted almost a year. Harris, the health director, said a month ago that “I know that there’s not an appetite in our community” for a new mask requirement and that “things would have to change quite a bit, probably, before we ever think about any more restrictions.”
Since then, though, the number of confirmed Covid cases and hospitalizations have continued to increase — though not to their January peaks. Harris said: “This is stressing our hospitals, but we have been assured they are continuing to be able to manage, but know that things can get more difficult over time.”
Confirmed cases in Mecklenburg:
Hospitalizations in Mecklenburg in the last two months rose to 321 as of last week:
Deaths still low: The number of Covid-related deaths, though, has not kept pace with the rise in cases and hospitalizations. The county reported six Covid deaths last week, although Harris said there were an additional five over the weekend.
The number of weekly Covid deaths has been in the single digits for the last three months. Hospital officials have said more than 90% of Covid hospitalizations have been for unvaccinated patients.
Vaccination update: In Mecklenburg County, about 60% of residents ages 12 and up have been fully vaccinated, according to state data.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory