FROM STAFF REPORTS

Citing a recent decline in local COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and the advice of public health agencies, Iredell County Board of Commissioners Chairman James Mallory on Thursday rescinded a proclamation requiring face masks be worn in county-operated facilities.

Masks will be optional in county-operated facilities starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 11, until the proclamation signed by Mallory on Thursday is modified or rescinded.

The proclamation does not apply to public school buildings, which are operated by Iredell-Statesville Schools and the Mooresville Graded School District. It also does not apply to ICATS buses, where masks are required under federal law

The mask requirement was put in place to protect the health of the county’s 1,469 employees and ensure they could deliver high-quality services to the public.

Mallory explained in the new proclamation that the decision to rescind the mask mandate was made after considering the latest COVID-19 data and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, N.C. Department of Health & Human Services and the Iredell County Health Department.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 declined from 3,404 during the week ending January 15 to 1,104 during the week ending February 5, according to the Iredell County Health Department. Similarly, the number of COVID-19 admissions in the county’s three hospitals dropped from 102 on January 28 to 48 on February 9.

A total of 411 deaths in Iredell County have been attributed to COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020. Fifty people who have tested positive for COVID-19 were hospitalized across the county on Thursday.

The CDC encourages the public to use KN95 and N95 respirator masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Iredell County will continue to offer complimentary surgical masks and N5 respirator masks to county employees and visitors to county facilities.

                                             Resolution