What’s your best mask? Columbia launching social media campaign
If constant mask-wearing has got you down, the city of Columbia is launching a social media campaign to get city residents a little more creative and competitive with their face coverings.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin announced the #MaskUpColumbiaSC campaign on Friday, encouraging people to post their best mask selfies to a new city website or to their preferred social media account with the #MaskUp hashtag.
“Post your best photo or video to the Mask Up website” at maskupcolumbiasc.com, Benjamin said. “You can show off your creative mask, or even your mask making.”
Benjamin said the new campaign is aimed at younger people, who have contracted COVID-19 in higher numbers over the summer. Wearing masks has been shown to be one of the most effective steps one can take to stop virus-spreading particles from circulating through the air.
Columbia has already passed a mandatory mask ordinance that went into effect on June 26, requiring people to wear a face mask in most public places where they might come within 6 feet of another person.
Richland County’s own face mask requirement went into effect July 6, and several other cities in the Columbia area have passed their own versions of a mask requirement in recent weeks, even as S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has resisted calls for a statewide mandate.
In addition to the individual requirement to wear a mask, all Columbia 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.
The fine for individuals not wearing a mask is $25.
On Thursday, South Carolina passed 1,000 deaths from the coronavirus, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, a grim statistic Benjamin noted in rolling out the campaign.
Although the campaign is framed as a competition, with winners announced weekly, Benjamin couldn’t say Friday what prizes might be available to the winners.
“I would say, ‘Lunch with me,’ but I’m sequestered at home,” the mayor joked. “Our intent was to try to bring attention to this and hopefully get something to go viral... That’s a bit of a prize in itself.”
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