Mandate includes mask wearing in all business zones, inside and outside
At a special meeting, Friday, Aug. 27, the Highlands town board passed an order reinstating the wearing of masks in all business zones, in both inside and outdoor spaces. There are no inside capacity limits as a part of this order. Customers in restaurants and bars do not have to mask while eating and drinking.
This order does not apply to residential zones, although everyone is encouraged to socially distance in crowded situations. For example, no one is required to wear a mask if walking down 6th Street, a neighborhood area.
Tom Neal, CEO of Highlands Cashiers Hospital and director of the Highlands vaccination initiative, made a compelling case to the board for the necessity of masking in business areas. The positivity rate for the plateau area is at 18 percent, which is considered to be a high code red zone. The order will remain in place until the positivity rate drops below 10 percent. At that time, based on the recommendations of health professionals, the board will consider rescinding the mask requirement. Warren Cabe, Director of Macon Emergency Services, supported Neal’s assessment and concerns. Both agreed that the COVID situation in the area is as intense, or even more so, than at the beginning of the year. Health experts are seeing a surge with the spread of the Delta variant.
At the meeting, Dr. Patti Wheeler emphasized both unvaccinated and vaccinated people should wear masks in the business areas. She stressed that a vaccinated person can spread the virus and contract COVID, although those cases in the vaccinated overwhelmingly tend to be minor to mild infections. Everyone should wear masks in the business zones.
The mayor and board of commissioners urge residents and visitors to voluntarily mask in business areas out of mutual support in curtailing this growing public health concern. The town enforcement approach of this order will be to encourage voluntary compliance.
Mask-wearing exemptions will be allowed for the following:
Children under two years old, due to the risk of suffocation.
People with:
A medical condition,
Mental health condition, or
Disability that precludes wearing a mask. This includes:
Those for whom a mask could obstruct breathing
Who are unconscious or incapacitated
Unable to remove a mask without assistance
People for whom seeing the mouth is essential for communication:
Hearing impaired, or
Those communicating with a person who is hearing impaired.
People for whom wearing a mask would create a risk as they work, as determined by:
Local, state, or federal regulators, or
Workplace safety guidelines.
The need for a mask will be required as long as test positivity rate in the “RED” category per the CDC. The need for mask will be reevaluated weekly.
Per the CDC, counties with:
test percent positivity <5.0% or with <20 tests in past 14 days: Green
test percent positivity ≥5.0% to ≤10.0% or with <500 tests and <2000 tests/100k and >10% positivity over 14 days: Yellow;
test percent positivity >10.0% and not meeting the criteria for “Green” or “Yellow”: Red.
Gray represents no data reported. Test positivity is rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent before classifying.
Macon County is currently in red for the Test Positivity Classification. In the past 14 days, the percent positity rate is 18.9 percent.