Columbia’s face mask requirement is now in effect. Here’s how it will be enforced
Columbia code enforcement officers, not police officers, will enforce a new ordinance requiring people wear face masks in public to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
They include parking enforcement officers, customer service reps, city ambassadors, such as the Yellow Shirts on Main Street and Five Points, and other city staffers tasked with enforcing civil, not criminal, codes.
However, City Council member at-large Tameika Isaac Devine said that enforcement will likely be “complaint-driven” and ”we’re going to be relying a lot on business owners to enforce it in their own businesses and hope we can get compliance that way.”
Warnings will issued the first week, unless the person not in compliance is “belligerent,” Devine said during a Facebook Live post Thursday.
She noted that some people see mandatory face masks as an infringement of their person rights, like requiring people to wear seat belts or buckle their children in car seats.
“Some people may not agree with it,” she said. “But it’s the law.”
The emergency ordinance was passed by City Council Tuesday and went into affect at 6 a.m. Friday. It will last for 60 days.
“However, if we see that the numbers (of positive tests for coronavirus) are still up, we can extend it,” Devine said.
Council members voted 6-1 Tuesday, after a nearly 4-hour emergency session, to require the masks for anyone in public and within six feet of someone else. Employees of all businesses are also be required to wear masks.
Council member Daniel Rickenmann voted against the measure, saying it should be solely an educational program.
Not wearing a mask carries a fine up to $25. Businesses can also be fined $100 if employees are not wearing masks.
In addition, all restaurants, retail stores, grocery stores, salons and pharmacies must require their employees to wear a face covering at all times while having face-to-face interaction with the public. Any business owner or supervisor not complying with the ordinance could be fined up to $100 for each day of offense.
“This will primarily be complaint driven,” Devine said. “It will be the three ‘E’s — education, encouragement and then it will be enforcement.”
Prior drafts of the ordinance had made infractions a criminal misdemeanor, carrying penalties of up to $500 and 30 days in Jail. But council Tuesday changed non-compliance to a civil infraction.
“We’re just trying to encourage compliance,” Devine said. “We’re not trying to make this criminal . . . put people in jail. If people are not in compliance this first week its 98% sure they will get a warning.”
All tickets can be appealed to the city manager, Devine said. And all fines will go into the city’s coronavirus fund.
Under the new emergency ordinance, masks would be required for anyone:
▪ Inside a public building or waiting to enter a public building
▪ Interacting with someone within six feet in an outdoor space
▪ Engaged in business in a private space
▪ Using public or private transportation
▪ Walking in public where maintaining a six-foot distance from others may not be possible.
The ordinance defines a face mask as “at least a simple cloth face covering,” ranging from surgical masks, N95 respirators, face shields or bandanas, as long as it covers both the mouth and nose and does not have any holes.
The requirement would apply to anyone in the city limits aged 10 and up.
Columbia becomes the second major South Carolina city to require masks. Greenville City Council voted unanimously Monday to require masks.
Columbia’s ordinance also spells out when residents would not be required to wear masks. Those circumstances include:
▪ When riding in a personal vehicle
▪ When alone in an enclosed space, or when only other household members are present
▪ When outdoors and able to maintain a six-foot distance at all times
▪ While eating, drinking or smoking
▪ When wearing a mask could aggravate health conditions.
DHEC announced more than 1,100 new coronavirus cases Thursday.
Linda Bell, the state’s epidemiologist, addressed the council Tuesday via video conference and noted that 46% of the state’s 26,572 positive COVID-19 cases at the time had been identified in the last two weeks. She said social distancing and masks “are the only tools we have” in combating the rising spread of the virus.
She told council members she was “alarmed and disheartened” at the number of people not wearing masks, particularly young adults.
While most teenagers and young adults are most resistant to becoming seriously ill from the virus, “you’re imposing that risk . . . on others.”
She added: “These measures from the local jurisdictions are badly needed.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 1:39 PM.