County commissioners deny mask mandate again
Oklahoma County commissioners denied a recommendation that masks be required inside all county facilities for a second time this week during a special meeting Friday.
Emergency Management Director David Barnes, who first recommended the mask mandate Wednesday, asked commissioners to reconsider and presented updated statistics on COVID- 19 cases, noting that local cases are still skyrocketing and ICU space in hospitals continues to shrink.
Barnes also pointed to large corporations like Walmart and Target that have announced mask mandates this week to slow the spread of the virus. Tinker Air Force Base requires masks, as well, he added.
“Based on guidance from the CDC, guidance from city-county health, guidance from the state Health Department, I want to reiterate again the use of surgical style or cloth masks,” Barnes told commissioners.
Joe Blough, chief deputy for Commissioner Carrie Blumert who attended the meeting in her place, wanted to approve the measure, but the other two commissioners did not agree to move the recommendation forward for a vote.
On Wednesday, commissioners wanted more information on where the masks would actually be required, how to enforce the measure and whether a mask ordinance being discussed by the Oklahoma City government would apply to county facilities.
Barnes said Friday that masks would be required in common spaces like hallways and meeting rooms, though it wouldn't apply to those under under the age of 2 or those with medical issues.
The measure would still allow judges to decide if masks were required in their courtrooms or offices inside the courthouse building, which is adjacent to county government offices.
Commissioner Brian Maughan asked for enforcement clarification from the district attorney' s office and was told that while the county couldn' t arrest or ticket someone for not wearing am ask, a verbal notice or request for that person to leave county facilities could be legal.
Court Clerk Rick Warren, who was wearing am ask, said he thought it was similar to the standard “no shoes, no shirt, no service.”
“Although we can' t fine people, we can ask them to leave,” he said.
And the draft of the mask ordinance being voted on by the Oklahoma City City Council Friday afternoon does not include county facilities, so commissioners will have to solely decide whether to vote on a mandate for their spaces.
Commissioner Kevin Calvey said earlier this week that he would not support a mask mandate in all common areas because he believes that "for most people," wearing a mask the entire time they would be in a county building "would actually be a worse health risk than not wearing am ask ." Local, state and national health authorities have said masks are an effective way of slowing the spread of COVID-19, and only those under the age of 2 and those with medical complications have been advised not to wear a mask.