Mask up: Horry County Council members vote to extend face covering requirement

Sure, they may be annoying. Yes, they fog up your glasses. But Horry County officials voted Tuesday night to require people wear face masks in public for another two months.

Ahead of a Sept. 9 deadline, Horry County Council members voted — despite some spirited objection — to extend the countywide requirement that all residents and visitors wear a face covering in public places for another 60 days to help stem the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

That means masks up until at least Halloween.

However, council members could amend or nix the measure before then. In a Facebook post Wednesday morning, County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner wrote that he’s place an item on the council’s Sept. 15 meeting agenda to end the face mask requirement. He wrote that he’s taking that step so council members have another chance to debate the measure publicly and take another vote.

Until then, Tuesday’s action re-ups the measure enacted in July, just before the Independence Day holiday. According to that measure, all people are required to wear a face covering — whether a medical or surgical mask, scarf, bandanna, cloth mask or gaiter — if they’re entering a public place such as a grocery store, restaurant, retail business, salon or tattoo parlor. The order does not require masks to be worn in public places that are outdoors, such as parks and beaches.

Businesses are not required to enforce the ordinance — that duty is left to the county — but they are required to place “conspicuous” signs at all entrances notifying customers of the requirement. The ordinance also requires retail employees to wear masks when working in areas with the general public or around other employees.

To date, Horry County has seen 9,422 positive cases of COVID-19 and 186 people have died from the disease. Another 800 people have been hospitalized by the virus. County leaders first enacted the face mask requirement in response to a spike in coronavirus cases here, including a high of 396 on July 3.

Like before, there are exemptions to the mask mandate. People who can’t safely wear a face covering due to age or an underlying health condition, as well as those can’t remove a face covering without assistance of others, don’t have to wear a mask. Similarly, people whose religious beliefs prevent them from covering their faces and those who need to communicate with a hearing impaired person aren’t required to wear one either.

At a restaurant, a person can remove their mask while eating, and at hair salons or other establishments where access to the face is required, people can remove their masks to receive those services. Masks are also not required while someone is engaged in “strenuous exercise” at a gym. Masks may also be removed if a police officer or other first-responder directs a person to do so.

Horry County’s move to extend its face mask requirement follows a similar move from North Myrtle Beach. A mask requirement in effect in Myrtle Beach could end next week unless it’s renewed. Conway voted to expand its protection measures in late July.

Like before, people who don’t comply with the ordinance could face fines of up to $100. Failure to wear a mask in one of the required areas is considered a civil offense and could net a $25 fine for a first infraction, a $50 for a second and $100 for the third and each subsequent infraction. County spokesperson Kelly Moore said Tuesday that the county has not yet cited anyone for not wearing a mask.

More discussion needed

Ahead of Tuesday evening’s vote, several council members attempted to prevent its immediate passage through a procedural mechanism. After Gardner, the chairman, asked for discussion on extending the mask mandate, Councilman Al Allen, who represents a large swath of western Horry County, decried the ordinance’s placement on what’s called the consent agenda, meaning that the ordinance would be enacted immediately if council members voted to approve it.

Allen argued the council should allow for more public debate on the measure before a vote was held, and he called for the measure to be removed from the consent agenda.

“It is terrible and it is tyranny to try to slide something like this over the people of Horry County by putting it in the consent agenda,” Allen said.

His effort to pause the mandate’s enactment failed, however, in a 5-7 vote. Council members Allen, Danny Hardee, W. Paul Prince, Johnny Vaught and Chairman Johnny Gardner voted in the minority to remove the measure from the consent agenda and discuss it at a later meeting. Council members Tyler Servant, Gary Loftus, Dennis DiSabato, Bill Howard, Harold Worley, Orton Bellamy and Cam Crawford voted in the majority to keep the measure on the consent agenda and later enact it with Tuesday’s vote.

“It’s a dark day in Horry County,” Allen said after the vote.

“If you want to wear a mask, I’d never make fun of you, I’d never tell you you shouldn’t, that should be a personal choice, period,” he added after the meeting. “It should not have to be mandated, we should not have to have government to mandate morals to us.”

On Wednesday, after reading Gardner’s Facebook post, Allen said he agreed with the move and said it would allow for “full transparency in our government.”

DiSabato, who voted Tuesday to keep the measure on the consent agenda, said he believed residents of Horry County to be in consensus about the need to wear a mask in public.

“There’s a loud minority but I think the majority of the public feels like it’s a good measure to be taken to help protect the public welfare,” he said.

Gardner, who voted to open the mandate up for more discussion, said on Tuesday that its passage brings Horry County into compliance with neighboring municipalities and Gov. Henry McMaster.

“And if it can save somebody’s life,then it’s worth it,” he said.

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 8:44 PM.