Richland County renews face mask requirement as coronavirus cases rise
Richland County residents will have to keep their masks on for another two months.
On Monday, Richland County Council voted to extend a requirement that county residents wear face masks in most businesses, citing a rising number of cases in the county in recent days. The requirement had been set to expire this week.
Councilman Bill Malinowski cast the only vote against the measure, arguing mask requirements should be up to individual businesses.
“I wear one every time I go out,” Malinowski said. “But it should be individual businesses and government agencies putting up signs at their own entrances.”
Other council members cited statistics from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control that Richland County has seen around 800 new cases of COVID-19 in the past three days, by far the highest new case count in the state.
Malinowski retorted that “maybe that means the face masks aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do,” but he was outvoted as the council renewed the requirement.
Richland County Council originally approved a countywide mask requirement on July 2. The ordinance requires county residents wear masks in most businesses, and that business employees have their faces covered when dealing with members of the public.
The ordinance requires a $25 fine be issued for anyone failing to wear a mask, and $100 for any business not requiring employees to wear a mask.
The original mask rule was in effect for 60 days. Monday’s vote extends the requirement for another two months.
The rule is in line with requirements passed by other municipalities in the state, including Columbia and Forest Acres within Richland County, that also require residents to wear masks.
Richland County has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases in recent days. On Monday, Richland County announced 182 new cases, well ahead of Greenville County’s 51 and Charleston County’s 49. On Sunday, the county hit a new high of 396 cases announced in a single day.
A DHEC spokesperson previously said that increase is partly attributable to new cases at the University of South Carolina, which had 557 active cases on campus a week after classes resumed.
On Monday, County Administrator Leonardo Brown told the council that the county ombudsman’s office has received 131 calls related to the mask ordinance since it went into effect on July 5, “ranging from people not covering their whole mouth and nose to spotting others in a facility without masks on ... and even a number of people out in groups.”
Brown said the county has issued 28 notices to local businesses in the unincorporated parts of the county, explaining the mask ordinance to businesses but, so far, without issuing any tickets.
The administrator also said the county has acquired 67,000 masks to be distributed by the county, which would be divided up to about 6,000 masks per county council district.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has said masks have contributed to a decline in coronavirus cases over the past month.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 8:03 PM.
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