COVID-19 is surging in Horry County. Will local governments require face masks again?
Horry County has been designated as a coronavirus “hotspot” by the White House, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course last week to recommend vaccinated people wear masks in indoor settings where the spread is significant, including Horry County.
That raises the question of whether local governments will again require masks in their limits.
During a state of emergency related to the coronavirus that expired in June, Gov. Henry McMaster signed an executive order saying local municipalities couldn’t require masks with the state of emergency as a justification for the mandate. That state of emergency is expired now, and local governments have the ability to try to enforce a mask requirement, though “ it would have to be done based solely on any authority they may have as local officials,” instead of based on the expired state of emergency, according to McMaster’s spokesperson Brian Symmes.
“The governor has made it very clear that he doesn’t believe overly broad, unenforceable mask mandates are an appropriate way to deal with the current challenges we face because of the pandemic,” Symmes said in an email to The Sun News.
Cases and hospitalizations have shot up in Horry County in recent weeks as the ultra-contagious Delta variant spreads. The seven-day case rate in the county is 395 per 100,000 people, according to CDC data, marking a 110% increase from the previous seven-day rate.
With the stark increase of cases and updated CDC guidance, what will local governments do to mitigate the spread? The Sun News asked local leaders about their potential plans to implement mask requirements.
North Myrtle Beach
When reached for comment Monday, North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley said council members have not talked about possibly reinstating a mask mandate, adding that it’s too early to tell if conversations will head in that direction.
“We will follow the governor’s orders,” Hatley said. “That way, we keep up with the CDC and DHEC’s briefings every day.”
Hatley, who has been vaccinated, said they will keep monitoring COVID-19 numbers before making a decision.
The council decided to not extend its mask requirement in March. That same month, council also ended the requirement of face masks in restaurants following an announcement from McMaster ending a similar statewide requirement. Before then, North Myrtle Beach’s mandate still applied to other public places like retail businesses and grocery stores.
The city was one of several municipalities in the Grand Strand to enact a face mask requirement last summer as the virus spread rapidly. The requirement was extended several times and became part of the city’s state of emergency relating to the pandemic.
Myrtle Beach
Officials in Myrtle Beach have also not made any decisions regarding implementation of a mask requirement. But Mayor Brenda Bethune told The Sun News on Monday council members will be keeping an eye on COVID-19 numbers in the area.
“As of now, we have not discussed a mask mandate,” she said. “My personal opinion is that we do have vaccines that are free and easily available. I stress that personal responsibility is key right now.”
In March, city officials ended the mask mandate requiring people to wear face masks in all public places, except for in government buildings and any businesses that wanted them. It wasn’t until May that people were allowed to enter city buildings without their masks.
City Manager Fox Simons’ executive order urged people to wear masks but deferred to businesses to require them. The city’s mask mandate had been in effect since early July.
Surfside Beach
Surfside Beach Mayor Bob Hellyer said on Monday that it is too soon to say if the town will require face masks.
“We are not in discussions on it,” he said. “But we are keeping an eye on everything.”
The town council did not adopt a mask mandate like many of the other local governments in Horry County, but the board did pass a resolution requesting that people wear one.
Conway
The city of Conway is not currently exploring reinstating a face covering mandate, according to city spokesperson June Wood.
Like some of the other municipalities, Conway had a face covering mandate in place from last summer through this spring. It asked that residents and visitors cover their noses and mouths when entering indoor spaces other than their homes.
The city is also not considering passing another emergency order, either, Wood said.
Horry County
For Horry County’s part, it’s unlikely at this point that leaders will bring back any indoor face covering mandates. County spokesperson Kelly Moore said there is “no current discussion about a face covering mandate” among county leaders at this point and even a county council member who strongly supported previous mandates said now may not be the right time for a new mandate.
But, said County Council member Harold Worley, if the spread of the Delta variant worsens, he’d consider supporting another mandate.
“To never say never would be wrong…(but) if things get back to where they were last year, last June, July, I would. I would vote for a mask mandate indoor,” Worley said. “But I don’t know, I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Unlike other municipalities, Horry County’s face covering mandate was only in place for several months last year. Council members enacted the mandate at an emergency meeting ahead of the July 4th holiday, as COVID-19 cases spiked county-wide. The mandate was in place for 60 days, and, when Council Chairman Johnny Gardner allowed the mandate to be automatically renewed for another 60 days, other council members objected. Council member Al Allen, who represents Aynor and much of Western Horry County, called the automatic renewal “tyranny.”
That then led Gardner to bring the matter back up for debate and a vote, and the mandate ultimately lasted until the end of October. Worley at the time attempted to use parliamentary procedures to force another discussion and vote on the issue to extend the mandate further, but those efforts failed.
At the time, an analysis of COVID-19 case data by The Sun News found that the county’s mask mandate appeared to slow the spread of the virus, and that the virus began spreading more rapidly once the mandate was lifted. Still, when the mandate was in place, neither county police officers nor other officials enforced the mandate outside of county-run properties.
As the Delta variant spreads, Worley said he is paying close attention to the number of people in the region getting sick and the number of people getting hospitalized for COVID-19, and is monitoring DHEC data closely. He said that if hospitals fill up and case numbers spike, he’d support another mandate, even if his fellow council members may be a harder sell on the idea. Worley added that he still wears a mask in some situations because he feels that it’s a “respectful” thing to do.
“I’m not there yet with information that I’m getting to make that kind of decision,” he said. “When the hospitals tell us they’re overrun and the infections are running rampant across the community…I think that would be the right thing to do because we’re all in this together.”
