CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County employees are now required to wear masks inside county buildings and provide their vaccine status to the county, according to Mecklenburg County Manager Diorio.
Employees are not required to get the vaccine but must disclose whether they are vaccinated by Sept. 1. Employees who are unvaccinated will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result weekly, starting Sept. 7.
The requirement for face coverings inside county buildings applies to all county employees, regardless of vaccination status. Non-vaccinated employees are also required to wear masks or face coverings outdoors on county property, when unable to socially distance.
Face masks aren't required when employees are eating, drinking, or alone in an office or cubicle.
The county says once unvaccinated employees start presenting weekly COVID-19 tests in September, fully vaccinated employees will no longer be required to wear masks inside county buildings.
The move, which went into effect on Aug. 1, comes after Mecklenburg County was identified as having a high rate of transmission of COVID-19, with a positivity rate of 11% as of July 28.
Since the delta variant is known to spread faster compared to earlier strains and some "breakthrough" cases have been reported among vaccinated people, the county saw these measures as ways to keep employees safe.
"Mecklenburg County remains committed to continually evaluate the latest public health data to ensure that County employees are safe and remain flexible as a workforce in the fight against the pandemic and its impact on the community," county leaders said in a news release.