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Mayor Young to lift county-wide mask mandate
BRANDON HUTCHESON
On Friday afternoon, April 9, Dyer County Mayor Chris Young announced the county-wide mask mandate, originally set to expire on April 28, will expire at 12 a.m. (midnight) tonight.
According to the mayor, the deciding factors leading to removal of the mandate were due to the number of the Dyer County population who has been vaccinated, as well as the decrease in active cases and hospitalizations.
“Dyer County is approaching 33 percent of our population being vaccinated with at least one shot as of today [Friday]. Our active cases are now at 27, much less than it has been for months (Nov. 26, 2020 – 265 active; Feb. 13, 2021 – 108 active),” said Young. “Hospitalizations are down and treatment is now available at our local hospital to avoid serious and most life-threatening infections if someone is diagnosed with coronavirus. I waited to see if Spring Break would have a negative impact on us and fortunately it had very little.”
According to the most recent Dyer County COVID-19 numbers issued by the Tennessee Department of Health on April 8, Dyer County has reported a total of 5,336 total cases, 104 deaths, and 5,204 inactive/recoveries.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee originally authorized county mayors to issue mask requirement orders on July 3, 2020 with the signing of Executive Order 54. The authorization was extended throughout 2020 and into 2021 with the issuance of Executive Order 77, which is currently in effect until April 28.
Mayor Young first issued a mask mandate on July 20, 2020 and it extended twice, before ending the mandate on September 28, 2020. Twenty-five days later, the mandate was reinstated on Oct. 22, 2020 due to rising COVID numbers. The mandate has remained in effect since the October 2020 date.
Though the mandate is set to expire tonight, Mayor Young added Dyer County is not at the finish line as far as COVID-19 is concerned and encouraged citizens to get vaccinated.
“We are still not at the finish line. Active cases are highest in the 31-40 age group, followed by the 41-50 age group, and then the 21-30 age group. This is quite a contrast from what we were experiencing early on. I want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated if you haven’t already done so, especially in the 20-50 age groups, and wear a mask where social distancing is not an option.”