After week-long confusion, Beaufort County extends COVID-19 state of emergency
In a last-minute Friday night meeting, Beaufort County Council once again voted this week to extend its state of emergency.
The motion officially passed this time.
The temporary law that allows officials to meet virtually — and gives the county administrator the power to implement an emergency operations plan — will be in place until Dec. 9 or until the governing body rescinds it.
Council was forced to meet late on Friday because of multiple errors and missteps at its Monday meeting that caused the emergency ordinance to expire at the end of the day.
If the motion failed, the council would have been forced to meet in person starting on Monday.
After the errors were amended in the agenda, the council voted 8-3 to extend the ordinance — a two-thirds majority. Council members Mike Covert, Chris Hervochon and Brian Flewelling voted against the extension.
The state of emergency does not directly affect the county’s mandatory mask requirements, which are set to expire on Oct. 23. Council will discuss at its meeting Monday whether to extend that ordinance.
