Beaufort extends mask requirement with support from hospital CEO. Here’s what he said
People shopping and dining in the city of Beaufort will have to continue to wear masks through mid-December unless emergency orders change sooner.
Beaufort City Council extended a requirement for face coverings through Dec. 11, continuing a mandate in place since July aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus.
The vote came a day after Beaufort County Council declined to extend a similar rule in unincorporated areas of the county.
After that vote, Beaufort Memorial Hospital CEO Russell Baxley sent a letter encouraging officials with the city of Beaufort and towns of Bluffton and Port Royal to keep a mask requirement in place. Baxley acknowledged that the municipalities might be under pressure to relax their requirements after the county decision, but said improved numbers are evidence of masks’ effectiveness.
“I think things are better, like he says, but I don’t think it’s over yet,” Councilwoman Nan Sutton said. “Regardless of what other entities are doing, my vote will be to support medicine.”
In his letter, Baxley pushed back against a vocal group that has opposed continued mask requirements. County Council received hundreds of comments from opponents on its video stream Monday, and the City Council discussion drew a similar response, with several people encouraging policymakers to drop the rule.
“The anti-maskers are pushing very hard to lift the ordinances with the belief they were never necessary in the first place and/or this is under control and we should not need to mask anymore, but my question is what if they are wrong?” Baxley wrote to local government leaders. “What happens if we see another surge, the question everyone should be asking is are we prepared for another surge, and that answer is no.”
The hospital administrator said medical facilities don’t have the testing capacity to withstand a second wave, and that the hospital still isn’t able to get all the PPE it needs. He also noted a lack of effective treatment or vaccine for COVID-19, that dozens of other states are continuing to see rising cases, and that masks could cut down on flu cases, which have similar symptoms and will require the same testing protocols as corornavirus.
The city’s mask ordinance requires people to wear face coverings when entering any building open to the public. It also requires employees to wear masks when they’re close to coworkers and in areas where they might interact with the public. There are exceptions for those who can’t wear a mask due to age or health conditions and while eating and drinking.
The penalty is a civil fine of $50, though the city says it has encouraged voluntary compliance.
Council voted 4-1 to extend the rule. Phil Cromer voted against the extension, saying case numbers had improved and that council could revisit a requirement if there was another spike.
With the county mask requirement expiring Oct. 24, there’s the possibility for confusion over jurisdictions. City limits include downtown shops and restaurants, businesses along Ribaut Road north of Mossy Oaks Road, businesses along Boundary Street, and grocery stores and box stores in parts of the Burton area and on Lady’s Island where the city has annexed commercial property.
