Rock Hill will require residents to wear masks in public. Here’s what we know.
The Rock Hill City Council voted Monday to pass a citywide emergency ordinance requiring residents wear face masks in public. The city is the first York County municipality to approve a mask rule amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The rule, which passed in a 5-2 vote, will require people to wear masks in food and retail establishments, including grocery stores and pharmacies.
The emergency measure, which will apply only in the city limits, takes effect Friday morning and lasts no longer than 60 days. A violation of the rule will result in a civil infraction.
Rock Hill Police Department command staff will meet later after the measure was passed Monday, officials said. Police officials will release details about enforcement later.
Rock Hill City Council member Nikita Jackson, who led the push for a mask requirement in the city, said with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the county continuing to spike, a mask requirement is needed. Over the July 4 weekend, nearly 200 more people in York County tested positive for the virus, with the county reporting more than 100 cases in a single day.
“It has been very alarming to me to see how our numbers have increased on a day-to-day basis because of the lack of measures that have been put in place,” Jackson said. “Had we continued to practice social distancing, quarantining, I feel wholeheartedly that our numbers would not have gone up in the manner in which they have.”
Mayor John Gettys said the pandemic has destroyed the economy, and despite the discomfort of wearing a mask, residents can “suffer some inconvenience” adhering to the mask mandate in order to ensure that local restaurants and stores can operate somewhat normally and students can go back to school.
“Our schools have to open in the fall,” Gettys said. “There’s no two ways about that. We can’t have full schools in one part of town closing down with full schools in another part of town not having to. That’s not the community we are. We have to take steps and the easiest, least intrusive, best way to do that now is to wear a mask.”
City Council member John Black, who voted against the rule, said the mandate is “practically unenforceable.” He said the decision to wear a mask should come down to the individual but insisted that people should wear masks in public to slow the spread of the virus.
“It is a terrible disease,” he said. “But voting on a mandate — with this kind of ambiguity and confusion — I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense to try to enforce something that nobody knows what to do anyway. I do think it’s personal responsibility to put your mask on.”
The council opened the special meeting to the public, and some residents pleaded that the mask requirement should be implemented, while others asserted such a measure would infringe on individual rights.
Rebecca Lugthart, of Rock Hill, said she does not think the pandemic is an urgent problem, claiming death rates are at an “all time low” and insisted a mask rule is unconstitutional.
“I just wanted to say, I urge you to keep South Carolina and Rock Hill free, and let us think for ourselves,” Lugthart said. “Let us keep our liberties and not start down that slippery slope to — it sounds crazy — but socialism, or even communism. These are the first steps of keeping our freedoms.”
Last week, Department of Health and Environmental Control officials reported the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in a single day, along with a record high of people hospitalized with COVID-19. State epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell warned that if people continue to disregard measures to prevent spread of the virus, such as wearing masks and social distancing, cases “could rise to the levels that none of us could have previously imagined.”
“If we don’t social distance, if we don’t wear our masks, then we’re going to see more of our friends, our family members, our loved ones, who will continue to become ill, who will be hospitalized and many will die,” Bell said.
Ernest Rodriguez, of Rock Hill, said at the meeting he recovered from the coronavirus, spending 16 days on a ventilator, and urged the council to pass the mandate.
“This is so real that if people don’t start wearing their masks, it’s going overwhelm us,” Rodriguez said. “And if you don’t help the city take care of this problem, we’re all going pay — all of us. I’m here to tell you, ‘Get the mask on.’ This is so important. You need to understand. It’s so real.”
Rodriguez, who wore a mask during the meeting, struggled to breathe as he spoke. He said he has suffered long-term effects of the virus. He said he has difficulty walking, breathing and swallowing. He lost nearly 50 pounds as a result of COVID-19 and has nerve damage in his hands, Rodriguez said.
“If people were wearing their masks, none of this would have happened to me,” he said.
Rock Hill’s decision follows South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s announcement on June 24 that cities and counties have the authority under Home Rule to require residents to wear face masks while out in public.
And although S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has dismissed the idea of implementing a statewide mandate, saying last week that requiring South Carolinians to wear a mask would be “impossible” to enforce, he has encouraged local municipalities to pass mask rules.
“I encourage them,” McMaster said. “They know their local situation. They know their local customers. They know their people. They know the business establishments...A careful consideration of restrictions is entirely appropriate.”
York County Council member William “Bump” Roddey has been the first area leader to push for a countywide mask mandate in public places, but so far, county officials have only agreed that masks should be recommended.
Roddey said Monday after Rock Hill’s vote that he is appreciative and encouraged that city leaders did the right thing in passing a temporary mask mandate for the county’s largest city.
Rock Hill City Council member Kathy Pender, who supported the emergency measure, acknowledged that there are parts of Rock Hill that are not included in the city limits and fall under county jurisdiction, and she called on the county council to consider adopting a similar rule.
Under state law, a county mask mandate would only cover unincorporated areas outside city and town limits.
“I know this ordinance probably isn’t perfect,” Pender said. “There are things in it to make it legal that make it perhaps not as cut and dried as some of us literal folks might like. I think it protects the public health. I think it is one of the only tools we have to safely, open up our economy, which we all know is so important.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 1:29 PM.
