Mask Mandate Extended Through End of Year in County
BY SABRINA BATES
WEAKLEY COUNTY (October 30) – After an Executive Order announcement by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Friday allowing county health departments and county executives to issue a public space mask mandate through the end of the year, Weakley County Mayor Jake Bynum issued the county's Executive Order No. 4, extending the county's public space mask mandate through December 29, 2020.
On July 31, 2020, Lee signed Executive Order #55, declraing that a state of emergency continues to exist in Tennessee due to the global COVID-19 health pandemic, and continues to strongly urge all persons to wear face cloth coverings or other similar coverings in public settings where being in close proximity to others is anticipated. Through Executive Order 55, the delegated authority is extended to county mayors in the 89 counties that do not have a locally-run health department to issues requiring the wearing of face coverings within their jurisdictions, subject to certain limitations, for the purpose of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the county have hovered above 100 for the last several weeks, while the number of COVID-related deaths is at 27, as of Monday, November 2. Weakley County recorded 149 active cases Monday, with 13,444 negative tests on record and a total of 1,649 novel coronavirus cases since March.
Neighboring Obion County continues to see active cases climb, with 200 recorded in the county as of Monday, November 2, according to information released by the Tennessee Department of Health. Obion County has also recorded 27 deaths and a total of 1,915 cases since March. The county has reported 12,928 negative tests.
Henry County, which was under a public space mask mandate beginning in August through a portion of October has the lowest total COVID-19 case count in the four-county region, but the number of active cases as of Monday had risen to 124. One week prior, Henry County's active case count was at 95. The county recorded 12 COVID-19-related deaths and 11,559 negative tests.
Carroll County's active case count hovered near 100 at 96 cases as of Monday, November 2, and 27 COVID-19-related deaths. Last week, Carroll County reported 86 active cases. The total COVID-19 case count for Carroll is 1,208, with 13,214 negative tests reported by the TDH.
The TDH provides a daily update each afternoon on its website with case numbers across Tennessee. The University of Tennessee at Martin also reports the number of coronavrius cases for students and faculty each afternoon on its website. As of Monday, November 2, UT Martin noted 33 active cases among students and three active faculty cases.
For more details, visit www.tn.gov/health.
