Masks required in the city of Beaufort. Where and when the rules say to wear one
Masks will be required in the city of Beaufort starting Wednesday after leaders passed new rules Monday morning aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Under the rules, face coverings are required of anyone while inside a building that’s open to the public. Employees of any retail business in the city are also required to wear masks in areas accessible by customers and when near other employees, including when outdoors.
The ordinance takes effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and will be in place for 31 days or until a state of emergency in the city is lifted.
The town of Hilton Head Island passed similar requirements Monday. Port Royal leaders will consider requiring masks by emergency ordinance on Wednesday, and the Beaufort County Council also is slated Wednesday to discuss emergency rules for masks.
The five-member Beaufort City Council voted unanimously to approve its new requirements.
“We wouldn’t be having this meeting if we didn’t, from health professionals and the public, hear a cry out of a necessity to do so,” Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling said.
City officials say they want to educate the public and encourage voluntary compliance before penalties.
A civil infraction and $50 fine would be the penalty after a warning for not wearing a mask. Businesses found to repeatedly violate the rule could be subject to a court injunction or a suspended or revoked business license.
“This I would say to the public is not a punitive measure,” Keyserling said. “It is for the public good. It is not to make money on citations — they will actually cost us more than they would ever generate.”
Businesses in the city limits cover a broad geographic area — Walmart on Lady’s Island is in the city, as is Dollar General on Trask Parkway — and could lead to confusion as to which businesses fall under which governmental jurisdiction. A public relations campaign would include providing posters for city businesses saying face masks are required, and failure to comply could result in the $50 fine.
City staff and police would then enforce compliance, city manager Bill Prokop said.
“This is a communication and educational program,” Prokop said.
The document includes exemptions for those unable to wear a mask because of age, health condition or being physically unable to wear and remove a mask. The rules don’t apply to those traveling in a personal vehicle, when in the presence of only household members or when actively eating and drinking.
Numerous other municipalities throughout the state have considered new rules as Gov. Henry McMaster declined such a measure.
At a news conference Friday, McMaster said that enforcing a statewide masking order would be “impossible,” even as the state health agency reported nearly 1,300 new cases of the virus.
Beaufort’s decision comes after Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s top executive warned of coronavirus patients filling the facility and said that masks are the only way to reliably combat the rise in cases.
“The only way to save lives is universal masking,” hospital CEO Russell Baxley wrote in a letter to Keyserling. “If we are waiting on the hospital to fill up before we sound the alarms, then it is already too late, so the hospital is sounding them now.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 10:55 AM.
