Tennessee Gov Allows ‘County Mayors’ To Make Mask Mandate Decisions

On Friday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order allowing the mayors of counties across the state to issue face mask mandates if needed.

In a tweet-thread, the governor wrote:

Today I signed Executive Order 54 to grant county mayors in 89 counties the authority to issue local mask requirements in the event of a significant rise in COVID-19 cases.

While our densely populated urban areas continue to have the highest COVID-19 case rates, our local governments expressed a need for greater flexibility in addressing a rise in cases and that includes setting stronger expectations around masks.

This targeted approach ensures we protect both lives and livelihoods and safely keep our economy open in Tennessee. We encourage every Tennessean across the state to use a face covering or mask, make sure to socially distance and wash hands frequently.

Lee added that “the six counties with locally run health departments including Sullivan, Knox, Hamilton, Davidson, Madison and Shelby counties retain the existing authority to issue mask requirements as needed.”

The pertinent text of the executive order reads in part:

…county mayors in the 89 counties that do not have a locally run county health department shall have the authority to issue orders or measures requiring or recommending the wearing of face coverings within their jurisdictions, consistent with Paragraph 3 of this order.

Paragraph 3 states: “WHEREAS, whether to require or recommend wearing a face covering may depend on the spread of COVID-19 or lack thereof in a particular community, which varies widely across the State, and local governments are therefore better positioned to make this decision based on the conditions in their communities…”

The EO continues, stating that any mayoral orders should follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and allow for certain “exemptions.”

Some “exemptions” noted in the text – one does not have to wear a mask “while eating or drinking,” while in places where one can properly maintain social distance, while “in a house of worship unless required by that house of worship,” if one is 12-years-old “or younger,” and if one has a legitimate “health-related” excuse.

Additionally, masks are not required in one’s own home or vehicle, “unless transporting others for hire,” among other exemptions.

Read the entire executive order here.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, the state has seen 50,140 COVID-19 cases, and 637 deaths as of publication. Two counties in Tennessee, Shelby and Davidson, currently account for approximately 44.5% of total cases in the state.

Other states experiencing COVID-19 spikes have made moves similar to Lee’s executive order.

As The Daily Wire previously reported, “Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a new executive order on Thursday mandating that Texans must wear a face covering when they are out in public in counties that have 20 or more confirmed cases of the coronavirus.”

COVID-19 has infected over 11.1 million people worldwide, and led to more than 528,200 deaths, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) Global Cases map. Over 6 million people have recovered.

In the United States, there have been more than 2.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and over 129,600 deaths. As of publication, 883,561 individuals have recovered from the virus in the U.S.