Face coverings to be mandatory in public spaces beginning Sunday, June 21
Concerned about employee, resident and visitor safety, Dare County businesses asked the county to take stronger action to insure face masks were worn in public.
Yesterday, Friday, Dare County Emergency Management issued Bulletin #62 stating, “Face coverings must be worn in indoor and outdoor public spaces here social distancing cannot be maintained beginning Sunday, June 21 at 9 a.m.”
The directive comes after a week in which the case count of COVID-19 cases increased from 32 to 44, a 38% increase.
As late as Thursday, Commissioner Bob Woodard, in a video, asked for voluntary compliance with the recommendation to wear face coverings. However, the county felt, “Voluntary compliance with face covering recommendations has not been effective within Dare County and local business owners have requested a stronger tool for compliance.”
The requirement applies to Dare County only, which includes the Village of Duck south to Hatteras Village. It does not apply to the Corolla Outer Banks or Ocracoke.
There will be some exceptions to the guidelines.
Exceptions will include restaurants when patrons are eating, people with underlying health conditions, and children under the age of 12. There are some additional exceptions and they can be found here.
There have been concerns about how a general rule such as this can enforced. Local law enforcement do not have the manpower to patrol to make sure people are wearing masks in public.
In a June 6 article in the Outer Banks Voice, Lt. John Towler, spokesperson for the Kill Devil Hills Police Department, likened enforcement of this type of rule to trying to stop people from setting off fireworks on Independence Day.
He did add, that if a person enters a business and refuses to wear a face covering or to leave, that would be trespassing and that, “it then becomes an enforcement matter.”
Face coverings are one part of the 3Ws the Dare County Health Department has been highlighting. The 3Ws are: Wear a face covering, Wash your hands, and Wait a minimum of 6’ apart.
Content provided by Kip Tabb.