Guilford County issued the following announcement on Feb. 18.
Guilford County Commissioners met Thursday, February 17, 2022 as the Guilford County Board of Health and voted to repeal the countywide mask mandate. Guilford County businesses can now make masking decisions for themselves. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged all municipalities, as well as schools, across the state to repeal the requirements in a press conference earlier in the afternoon.
The motion to rescind the mask mandate passed 7-0, effective immediately.
“If you go into a business and they feel a mask protects them and protects their customers and they require you to wear a mask then you should wear a mask. It’s their business.” said Chairman Alston. “We will be lifting this mask mandate immediately but I am encouraging all the businesses just like the Governor did…if you feel that your business should require a mask before someone enters into it then put a sign on the door. I have several businesses and I’m going to put a sign on all the doors because I want to protect my employees and I want to protect my customers. That’s my choice.”
Governor Cooper cited his reasoning for his recommendation as North Carolina’s COVID-19 metrics continue to move in the right direction and the wide availability of vaccines.
As of March 7, Cooper said low-risk settings, such as schools can make masks voluntary, at the discretion of local officials.
“We are taking a positive step on mask requirements to help us move safely toward a more normal day-to-day life,” Cooper said. “It’s time to focus on getting our children a good education and improving our schools, no matter how you feel about masks.”
There are still some places, such as health care, long-term care and transportation like airplanes, where a mask will be required because of the setting or federal regulations.
Original source can be found here.
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