New Hanover county reinstates mask mandate for county buildings amid spike in COVID-19 cases

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Following the state department of health and human services says that more than 80% of current COVID-19 cases are from the Delta variant, New Hanover County is once again requiring masks in county buildings.

Vaccinated or not, anyone entering any New Hanover County building must wear masks, unless they qualify for an exemption outlined by the CDC.

Masks are not required in outdoor spaces on county property.

The county’s assistant health director said many things were taken into consideration when reinstating the mask requirement.

“Well I hope the people understand that people understand that this was not a decision that we took lightly, that county leadership took lightly, but the latest CDC recommendations that came out last week…was that everybody should be in –or wearing a mask in indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status,” said Carla Turner, New hanover County Health & Human Services Assistant Director. “So, I’m fully vaccinated, but I’m going to wear a mask, because I want to protect people from me, and me from other people.”

Turner also stressed, New Hanover County is taking these additional steps to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, the recent spike in cases, and the threat of the Delta variant.

“We don’t have any clear numbers for New Hanover County,…but on our weekly …our bi-weekly call that we have with the state health department, last week it was shared that more than 80% of the positive cases in North Carolina can be attributed to the Delta Variant and its even higher than that across the nation. So, Delta is obviously the dominant variant right now,” said Turner.

At this time, the health department is asking residents to take precautions like they had in the beginning of the pandemic.

“You know, when all of this started a year and a half ago it was the 3 W’s. You wear your mask, you wait 6 ft apart, and you wash your hands. So that hasn’t changed. I think we may have lost sight of that a little bit, as vaccinations came out. You know, our vaccination rates were really high when vaccines first came out, and they’ve dropped off. So we just continue to encourage people to get vaccinated so that we can get to a level of immunity in the community to give us a little more sense of normalcy,” said Turner.

Cape Fear Public Utility Authority also announced today, that on Monday customers, vendors, and other visitors will be required to wear a mask when inside any CFPUA facility, regardless of vaccination status.