COVID mask requirements inside SC’s courthouses to end March 1
Mask mandates inside South Carolina’s courthouses will be lifted starting Tuesday, under an order from S.C. Chief Justice Donald Beatty.
The mandate was put in place in July 2020 as COVID-19 cases and the rate of positive tests increased rapidly.
“Since that time, effective vaccines against COVID-19 have been developed and distributed, and are widely available at no cost. Further, positive case and percent positive rates continue to fall,” Beatty wrote in his order.
People still are allowed to continue wearing masks, but judges may require people to remove their mask during the presentation of a case.
Court security also may ask people to briefly remove masks for security or identification purposes, the order said.
In his order, Beatty gave judges discretion to require masks during individual cases if they are warranted by circumstances.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 11:03 AM.
