Housing Authority to hand out masks to its residents
♦ An emergency order requiring face coverings in public is marked by passionate arguments on both sides.
The Northwest Georgia Housing Authority will be distributing 2,500 masks for public housing residents, beginning Monday.
The masks can be picked up at the manager’s office for each of the public housing properties.
The distribution follows on the heels of a Rome City Commission emergency order requiring the use of face coverings in public within the city limits. The order took effect Tuesday and will remain in force through Aug. 24.
Another 10 Floyd County residents tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections over time to 755. More than half of them were reported in the past 30 days despite a daily cap on testing.
The City Commission’s decision was controversial and the debate prior to the vote was impassioned.
Many of the concerns related to enforcement — and some speakers still questioned the ability of face coverings to stop the spread of the coronavirus, despite strong assurances from local medical leaders.
“It’s really a simple thing,” Harbin Clinic CEO Kenna Stock told the Rome City and Floyd County boards at a special called meeting last week.
Dr. Gary Voccio, the health director for Georgia’s Northwest Health District, alongside Floyd Medical Center CEO Kurt Stuenkel and Redmond Regional Medical Center CEO John Quinlivan concurred.
During the Monday public comment period, Rome insurance executive Mark Swanson passed out thick binder notebooks to any commissioner who wanted one, claiming the information showed masks could encourage viral spread. When he asked Mayor Bill Collins for additional time, several members of the audience offered him some of theirs, even though they had not registered to speak.
However, Commissioner Bonny Askew stood firm with a reminder that the issue was about a public health emergency.
“This is about your life,” Askew said. “For us to sit back and say I don’t want to do it because it makes some people uncomfortable is irresponsible on our part. And it’s irresponsible on the part of people who refuse to wear masks because they know for a fact that wearing a mask is saving someone else’s life.”
Commissioner Wendy Davis got into the discussion to point out that, from her perspective, the main purpose of masks is to prevent the wearer from spewing out droplets into the air. During the premeeting caucus, Davis had City Manager Sammy Rich play a video showing that someone with a harsh cough could spew droplets as far as 12 feet. Some masks were significantly more effective than others in reducing the distance.
Other residents speaking during the public comment period, including Caroline Young, encouraged commissioners to support the mask mandate.
“If we don’t take precautions there will be no normal to get back to,” Young said.
Mallory Rogers, a rising senior at Rome High, said she didn’t feel safe walking down Broad Street with so many people out and not wearing masks.
Public nuisance?
The nine-page emergency order specifically mandates the wearing of masks in public places within the city of Rome when social distancing is not feasible. A public place is defined as any place that is not inside an individual’s home or automobile.
“All persons entering a commercial establishment must wear a face covering while inside the establishment. This does not apply to religious establishments,” reads Section 1.2 of the emergency order.
Section 1.3 stipulates that “all restaurants, retail stores, salons, barber shops, grocery stores, office and pharmacies shall require all employees to wear a face covering or mask at all times while engaged in face to face interaction within a public place.”
Section 1.4 provides that any person who is unable to wear a mask or face covering due to age or underlying health condition is exempt from the order.
Other exceptions include while someone is engaged in outdoor physical exercise; when someone is alone in an enclosed location or only with members of his or her own household; while eating, drinking or smoking; during organized sports; when a health provider determines that wearing a mask could aggravate a health condition; and when wearing a mask would prevent someone from obtaining personal services.
Violations could carry a fine of $25 on first offense, $50 on second offense and $100 on each subsequent offense.
A business that doesn’t enforce the order could be deemed a public nuisance. City Attorney Andy Davis said the city would consult with any such business owners before taking legal action to abate the nuisance.
Enforcement was a huge issue for Commissioner Craig Mcdaniel, who voted against the mandate along with Commissioner Jim Bojo, who said he felt like the board was acting as “babysitters” to the public.
“There are attorneys out there chomping at the bit to challenge this,” Mcdaniel said.
While Gov. Brian Kemp has said his emergency order prohibits local governments from enacting stricter restrictions than the state, Davis noted that Kemp has not gone to Savannah or Athens or Decatur to try to stop them from enforcing similar mask mandates.
“Enforcement is not the question here,” Askew said. “If the governor wants to do what he says he wants to do, to keep businesses open and people safe, then what he would do is enforce what he has out there and we wouldn’t have to do this.”