CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mandated protective masks are one step closer to becoming a reality in Mecklenburg County. County commissioners, in a meeting Tuesday night, held an impromptu vote to move ahead with drafting up the mandate.
"I think, frankly, people expect us to do this, and in fact, people think we're behind the game for required masks," said Commissioner Trevor Fuller.
Commissioners said they were aware municipalities within the county would have to sign on for the mandate to be effective throughout the county, but they wanted to take the lead on the topic.
Dena Diorio, Mecklenburg's county manager, noted that some towns like Matthews and Davidson were already known to be supportive of a mask mandate, while others, like Cornelius, were not.
Diorio also noted during the meeting she expects Gov. Roy Cooper to announce a statewide mask mandate sometime this week, perhaps as soon as Wednesday. However, commissioners said they wanted to get started on the measure now.
"We need to be worried about our people in Mecklenburg County, and we got different concerns (than the overall state)," said Fuller. "We've got a very dense population, and it's just different."
Commissioners also received a COVID-19 update from county health director Gibbie Harris. As of Tuesday night, 8,801 county residents had tested positive for the virus, and 144 people had died, Harris reported.
She also said hospitalizations have been rising, which has been taking away hospital staff from testing duties.
"What we're hearing from our hospital systems is that they are maxed out," said Harris, also noting that more staffing for testing is needed.
Harris also touted the importance of masks in helping prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
"We just want to embrace masks and help our community embrace masks," Harris said.
The health director cited recent studies of mask usage during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis, noting that masks were handed out to protesters beforehand.
Harris said one lab tested 3,200 participants afterward and found a positive test rate under 2 percent. She said another lab tested 8,500 other protesters and found a positive test rate of 0.9 percent.
Earlier Tuesday, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said that she wanted Governor Roy Cooper to make face masks mandatory in North Carolina to help slow the alarming spread of COVID-19.
Other jurisdictions across the Tarheel State have already come out with mask mandates.
Orange County, Durham County, Raleigh, and Boone, have made protective masks required, and Greensboro city leaders also issued an emergency order requiring face masks in public.