During the Covid-19 scare many sides have raised their voices in many directions, ranging from conspiracies to outright Constitutional violations when it came to the masks.
Now with the reports of the Delta Variant of Covid-19 talks have come to raise about the possibility of remasking in many states, including South Carolina.
“Governor McMaster never ordered a statewide mask mandate at the height of the pandemic and he’s certainly not going to now. Aside from the fact that a statewide mandate is entirely unenforceable, South Carolinians have been learning about this virus for over a year and half now – they know what they need to be safe and certainly don’t need government officials restricting them in any way.”, Brian Symmes- Communications Director for SC Governor’s office.
This brings to question if the Governor’s office is unable to require masking or remasking, then how is it local governments such as Mayors and County Officials are able to? The answer to that question is, they are not!
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has stated that due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and the increasing threat of the Delta variant, the CDC on Tuesday is recommending public indoor masking for everyone, regardless of vaccination status. This includes masking for teachers, students, parents and visitors in K-12 schools. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is adopting the federal agency’s updated guidance and is recommending all South Carolinians, including those who are fully vaccinated, wear their masks when indoors and in public settings in areas with substantial and high transmission.
The CDC has only recommended masks as a precautionary step for non-vaccinated and vaccinated individuals.
The major catch in most all of the information put out by organizations such as DHEC is the wording used. DHEC’s issued statement on their website is as above a recommendation, but then it follows it up wording that some have argued is designed to strike a fear factor in the populace of a perhaps another major outbreak.
In fact on the CDC website one can read that to date, no variants of high consequence have been identified in the United States.
At current many local community governments have stated they have no plans to talk about remasking in their individual communities. While some are playing with the possibility of bring talks to the table.
As Mr. Symmes has stated above South Carolinians have educated themselves well enough on the subject of Covid-19 and the Variants to be able to make an informed decision on their own.