Beaufort City Council passed an emergency ordinance on Monday morning requiring masks to be worn by anybody entering a public building to help slow the coronavirus spread.
The ordinance also requires that employees in local establishments wear a mask.
The ordinance says:
All persons entering any building open to the public in the City must wear a face covering while inside the building.
All restaurants, retail establishments of every description, salons, grocery stores, and pharmacies in the municipal limits of the City shall require their employees to wear a Face Covering at all times that the employees are in any area where the general public is allowed or when the employees must be in close proximity to one another. This requirement also applies to all persons providing or utilizing public or commercial transportation, including tours; and all businesses or employees while interacting with people in outdoor spaces, including, but not limited to, curbside pickup, delivery, and service calls.
The ordinance becomes effective 11:59 p.m. June 30. The ordinance will last for 31 days, or until the city’s state of emergency is lifted.
Not wearing one will first get you a warning, then will cost you a $50 fine, while reeat offender businesses could be subject to having their business license revoked.
The City of Beaufort mask ordinance was passed as cases of Covid-19 continue to increase quickly in both South Carolina and Beaufort County. As of June 26, Beaufort County had 30 new cases in a 24-hour period, bringing to total number of cases in the county since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,008. Beaufort Memorial Hospital CEO Russell Baxley also recently reiterated how important it is for people to wear masks, as the hospital has seen an influx of new patients.
