Return of the Mask: New Mask Mandate in All City of Jackson Facilities

As COVID-19 numbers continue to spike across the country thanks to the Delta Variant, it's looking like many places will be masking back up; including official City of Jackson buildings and facilities.

Tracking COVID-19 in Jackson

According to the CDC's COVID Data Tracker, most of the United States now falls in the "High" category for "Community Transmission."

More specifically, in Jackson County, as of August 10th, COVID Act Now reports a high risk level for the county with around 21 new cases per 100,000 people.

While that may not seem like a lot at first, they also report less than half the county has been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Also, COVID Act Now is reporting Jackson County's hospitalizations to be at a "Critical" level with ICU's at 90% capacity.

New Mask Requirement For City Facilities

As we try to minimize the impacts of this umpteenth wave of COVID-19 infections, the City of Jackson made an important announcement stating that as of Tuesday, August 10th masks will be required in all city buildings...regardless of vaccination status.

In the statement, city officials specifically named City Hall, recreation centers, public safety facilities, courthouses, and the like as places where not only visitors but workers as well will have to mask-up to enter.

City Manager Jonathan Greene, according to the statement, says this decision was based on the virus' transmission levels in Jackson as well as taking CDC guidelines for masks in areas with similar numbers into account.

"Requiring masks in City facilities protects our residents, along with our front line City workers who show up every day to serve Jackson,” Mayor Derek Dobies said. “This is an ever-changing situation, so we need to make sure our response evolves to keep the community safe.”

Don't Shoot the Messenger

Look, nobody wanted to be back in this situation...NOBODY. However, if it is a way to help stop others from getting sick and dying from this virus that has plagued the entire world for almost two years, isn't it worth it?

Please, put your politics aside, treat workers with respect who are just trying to enforce policies that are being enforced by people above them and let's all come together and get back to the part of the pandemic where we were all willing to do what we can when there was still hope this would go away relatively soon.

If you've already ditched the mask and don't have one, the City of Jackson facilities do have some they can provide for you should you visit one of their buildings and need one.