Want to do business with the city? Mask up
One of Ohio's state mandates is mask compliance. In a November press release, Gov. Dewine doubled down on the statement, saying at the rate of infection there might not be enough healthcare workers to staff hospitals.
Yet a recent Facebook post on the city's Facebook page suggests not everyone is onboard with the rule.
"We have received information about an increase in the number of customers not following the state issued mask mandate when entering our engineering department," the post reads. "In order for our engineering department's continued operation, we are asking all who visit to please be sure to do o with a properly worn mask. Thank you."
Floyd Gregg, director of Public Service and Safety for Wapakoneta, said via email he was recently notified visitors to the city's engineering department were pushing back against the mask ordinance. Gregg was also quick to point mention there haven't been any compliance issues with staff.
"What was reported to me was that this is an issue with visitors only,"
Gregg said.
Gregg was unable to provide specific examples of interactions and could not provide specific numbers on the percentage of customers who walked into the engineer's garage without facial coverings.
He also noted the problem has gotten worse, though he was unable to provide specific numbers.
Mary Ruck, superintendent of the Zoning and Engineering department, didn't comment.
As of Dec. 18, there were over 3,200 COVID cases in the county, with 1,100 in Wapakoneta.
Nationally there have been over 18 million infections and over 320,000 deaths.