MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It's time to put your mask on when you go into a public building. The Shelby County mask mandate went into effect Friday at 7 a.m.
Wednesday afternoon, the Shelby County Health Department issued an updated directive making the wearing of masks mandatory for public indoor settings, with few exceptions. The mandate, which applies to everyone over the age of 2-years-old.
Masks will be required in bars, restaurants, common areas of hotels, multi-residential buildings, and private clubs. The health department said masking is optional in outdoor settings because the risk of COVID-19 transmission there is lower; however, masks are recommended for unvaccinated individuals in crowded outdoor settings.
Exceptions to the mask mandate include when you are seated in a restaurant and eating and drinking, cardio workouts, grooming activities, or students whose parents opted them out of a mask mandate in schools under Gov. Bill Lee's Executive Order.
Here is the entire updated health directive:
The Shelby County Health Department announced today it will amend Health Order No. 24 to add a face mask mandate for all indoor public settings as the average number of new daily cases of COVID-19 in Shelby County surpasses 638. All individuals aged 2 and over, regardless of their vaccination status, will be required to wear a mask as of Friday, August 20, at 7:00 a.m., while indoors in public settings.
Masks are required in all indoor public settings, including bars and restaurants, common areas of hotels, multi-residential buildings, and private clubs. Similar to previous mask mandates, masks may be removed at restaurants, bars and other eating/drinking establishments by patrons when they are seated. Masks can also be removed for certain activities that require their removal, such as while one is engaged in cardio activity inside a gym, certain grooming activities (e.g. facials), or theatre performances. The Department recommends using outdoor settings while engaged in any strenuous exercise and maintaining a 6-foot distance between yourself and others who do not live in your household.
Masking remains optional in outdoor settings, where the risk of COVID-19 transmission is lower. Masks are recommended for unvaccinated individuals in crowded outdoor settings.
“With the highly transmissible Delta variant causing case rates to increase, now is the time to re-institute this measure to prevent further spread and save lives,” said Shelby County Health Officer Bruce Randolph. “We continue to track the data closely. We will revert back to recommendations as improvements are made in rates of COVID positivity and cases, hospitalizations, and death or by attaining at least 70 percent of Shelby County residents age 12 and older who are fully vaccinated.”
The Shelby County Health Department will hold a webinar for businesses on Friday, August 20th at 12:00 p.m. to provide an overview of the mask mandate. Click this link to register for the webinar.