Rock Hill’s coronavirus mask mandate could last months. Here’s what to know.
Rock Hill’s city-wide emergency mask ordinance no longer has a time limit.
In early July, the council passed a city-wide emergency ordinance requiring residents to wear face masks in food and retail establishments, including grocery stores and pharmacies. That mandate was first set to expire in early September.
Then, in August, council members passed another emergency rule, intended to last until Oct. 23. But Monday night, the council considered a second reading and voted to turn the emergency ordinance into a traditional ordinance.
Now, as a traditional ordinance, the rule will last indefinitely and will be repealed only after a majority vote by the city council. A violation of the rule could result in a civil infraction.
Monday’s resolution passed on a 5-2 vote, the same count it did in July and August.
An emergency ordinance lasts 60 days and can go up to only six months, so the council can vote to continue the ordinance only three times, Mayor John Gettys said. The council had passed the emergency ordinance twice and therefore, Gettys said Monday’s decision gives council the freedom to not have to revisit the ordinance again in 60 days.
“I don’t know that this changes anything,” Gettys told The Herald. “Whether it’s an emergency or a traditional ordinance, we can put it on the agenda and bring it back up. That’s always there and it’s always an issue we can bring back up.”
City Council member Kevin Sutton, who voted against the rule, insisted the city no longer needs the mandate since South Carolina’s daily case count has dropped. Sutton, who did not wear a mask at the meeting, said there’s no evidence that shows masks help stop the spread of the virus.
“This council has placed this mask ordinance on the people Rock Hill and businesses of Rock Hill with zero scientific evidence,” he said. “The numbers don’t show that your mask ordinance is doing anything.”
However, in August, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control released data showing that local mask requirements have curbed the spread of the virus.
According to the agency’s data, areas with mask rules had, on average, a 15.1% decrease in the total number of cases reported in the four weeks after the requirement was enacted. Areas without mask rules had, on average, a 30% increase in the total number of cases.
Council member John Black, who voted against the rule, said he wasn’t in favor of the mandate initially because he felt it would be difficult to enforce, but Monday, he said it was “ludicrous” the rule would no longer be an emergency ordinance and no longer have an end date.
“If council doesn’t feel like changing it, we could be the only city in the country that still requires people to wear a mask a year from now, two years from now,” Black said.
At the end of meeting, Sutton asked that the mask mandate be placed on the council’s next meeting agenda.
