Another SC city now requires masks — but only in ‘essential locations.’ What that means

People in another South Carolina city will need to mask up after the city council voted in favor Friday of an ordinance to create a face mask mandate.

The Clemson City Council voted unanimously at a special meeting Friday to require people to wear masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The ordinance requires all people 2 years and older to mask up indoors in “essential locations.”

“It’s important to protect our community,” City Council Member Alesia Smith said after voting in favor of the mask mandate.

The city council passed a resolution Monday that strongly recommended people wear masks. At that meeting, however, several members thought they needed to mandate masks in the city.

“I’m not willing to take the risk of protecting our children,” Smith said at Monday’s meeting, according to The State. “We have children in hospitals. We have teachers fighting for their lives.”

Prior to the city council vote at the special meeting on Friday, community members including children as young as 6 years old voiced their opinions on the mandate for more than 25 minutes. The meeting lasted nearly two hours and was live streamed on YouTube.

‘I want everyone to wear a mask,” said a 6-year-old who is a first-grader at Clemson Elementary School. “I want my friends to be safe.”

Now masks will be required at all public “essential locations” including:

• Stores where food is sold, including grocery stores, retail stores, convenience stores and produce stands

• Pharmacies

• All medical facilities, including chiropractic, audiology services, optometrists offices and therapy offices

• Dental facilities

• All city-owned and occupied buildings

• All public transportation

• Taxis and ride-shares, such as Uber and Lyft

The ordinance also says everyone at any public or private school, preschool, kindergarten or day care in the city will need to wear a face mask while indoors or in school buses, cars or trucks.

Masks won’t be required in other public places such as bars and restaurants, retail stores that don’t sell food, gyms, home-improvement stores and offices, according to the ordinance. The council also voted to exclude banks from its original list of essential locations.

“However, the use of masks, social distancing, ventilation, and hand sanitizing/washing is strongly encouraged indoors at nonessential locations open to the public in order to protect both staff and customers, especially where children under 12 may be present,” the ordinance says.

City Council Member Bob Brookover said he hopes businesses that are nonessential take the recommendations seriously and require masks on their own. He also encouraged people in the community to get vaccinated against the coronavirus because it is a person’s “best defense.”

“I do hope businesses that are nonessential do take this seriously and do require masks where it’s not a major effect on their business,” Brookover said at the meeting. “I do understand it for bars and restaurants. But do know if the situation does not improve or gets worse, I will likely be looking at additional mask mandates.”

If someone does not wear a face mask under the new ordinance, they could be fined up to $100 plus court costs and fees. People who violate the mandate multiple times could be declared a public nuisance and face legal trouble, according to the ordinance, which will be revisited at every city council meeting moving forward.

This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 6:25 PM.