East Point To Require People To Wear Masks Or Face Fine
Not wearing a mask in public spaces in East Point could result in a $75 fine.
Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press
The city of East Point led the way in Fulton County by being the first to mandate wearing a mask in businesses to slow the surge in Georgia’s COVID-19 cases. That was before Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed an executive order also requiring people to wear face coverings in public buildings.
But unlike the Atlanta order, if you’re caught without a face mask in businesses including restaurants, salons and grocery stores, you’ll face a $75 fine.
Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham told “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam that in her city, the cases of coronavirus are on a gradual rise and the numbers alone support the mandatory order.
The Georgia Department of Health has confirmed nearly 104,000 COVID-19 cases. The number of Georgians hospitalized with the coronavirus spiked over 2,000 this week.
Atlanta health care systems are also applauding the mask mandates.
Grady Health System’s CEO John M. Haupert wrote in a statement to WABE that it’s time to move the political and individual freedom agreements aside.
“Following last week’s record-breaking number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, we are continuing that upward trend, negating months of work to control community spread of the disease,” Haupert said.
He also noted that the current surge in patients is bringing hospitals back to when the pandemic was first overwhelming health care workers.
“Our community is in this situation again because of a lack of compliance with prevention measures,” he said.
Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.
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