COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County announced Tuesday that it would require masks at its county facilities starting Friday.
After the rise in COVID cases and meeting with public health officials, the county decided to require masks for anyone in its facilities, including employees, visitors, contractors, and vendors.
“As the result of what is going on across the nation, the region, and of course here in Cobb, we’ve had to make some tough decisions on what we are going to do here in Cobb County Government,” Cobb County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris said.
Cobb County has seen a spike in recent COVID cases. According to the county, its COVID rate is six times what is considered "high community spread."
The latest COVID data from Georgia's Department of Public Health reports Cobb County's had 68,134 COVID cases, 3,735 hospitalizations, and 1,055 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
“We’re in the second month of this, and it just does not seem to be going away,” Dr. Janet Memark, Director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, said. “Right now, we’re seeing younger people being hospitalized, and we continue to see hospitals that are dangerously low on critical care beds and medical-surgical beds.”
Cobb County said the mask mandate does not impact its outdoor facilities, including parks and the amphitheater.