Orange County local leaders are opting to maintain the county’s indoor mask mandate with guidance from Orange County Health Director Quintana Stewart.

The decision, shared by the county health department on Friday, comes after Governor Roy Cooper encouraged local governments and boards of education to end mask requirements by March 7 at a press conference Thursday.

While cases are declining, Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners Renee Price said extending the mask mandate will ensure numbers continue to fall.

“We have a community responsibility to minimize strain on UNC Hospital because it serves as a healthcare hub not only for Orange County but for our entire region,” Price said in a release Friday. “We want to slow the spread as much as possible to protect children under 5 and adults who are unable to take a COVID-19 vaccine.”

Price called for all residents in the county to get their vaccinations and booster shots to help lower the strain on local healthcare workers and systems. As of Friday, around 87 percent of Orange County’s population eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines has received at least one dose, while nearly 63 percent qualified as fully vaccinated.

“Most of the deaths and serious illnesses are among the unvaccinated,” Price said. “Vaccines provide the strongest level of protection from serious illness or hospitalizations due to COVID-19.”

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, Carrboro Mayor Damon Seils and Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver joined in the decision to uphold the mask mandate. Seils spoke with 97.9 The Hill on Friday and echoed the sentiment.

“We are all on the same page, as we have been throughout the pandemic,” he said. “Our decisions about pandemic response will be guided through our consultations with our county health director and other qualified public health authorities. That what we’ll continue to do as we watch these numbers come down and we’ll have updates as the weeks go by.”

The county leaders said they will continue to monitor the situation with plans to meet with local school systems, UNC Hospitals, UNC and first responders in early March.

Orange County’s indoor mask mandate has been in place since August 2021 when the delta variant of COVID-19 led to new spikes in cases. The local school districts, Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, have maintained indoor mask mandates since returning to in-person learning. The Chatham County Board of Education voted Monday to gradually lift the mask mandate in its school system over the next few weeks – beginning with athletes during sporting events.

 

Featured Photo via Juli Leonard/The News & Observer via AP

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