Tag: mask mandate

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No Special Session, Says Lee

Wikimedia Commons | Lynn Freeny

Governor Bill Lee said Monday he would not be calling a special session of the legislature to deal with the issues of parents who resist mask mandates for public school students in Tennessee, proposed or actual. Instead, he issued an executive order allowing parents who object to mask mandates  to opt out of the mandates for their children.

The governor said his order would apply to mask mandates for children issued either by school districts or health authorities such as the Shelby County Health Department.

Lee was asked what would be the result if a school district or health authority defied the order.

“They’d be violating the law,” he answered, without elaborating.

Several Republican legislators had requested the governor to call a special session that might, among other remedies, offer private-school vouchers to parents faced with public-school mask mandates.

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Parents Can Now Opt Child Out of School Mask Mandate

Parents in Tennessee will now be able to decide if their child wears a mask to school, regardless of their districts’ guidelines, after Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday. 

“A student’s parent or guardian shall have the right to opt out of any order or requirement for a student in Kindergarten through 12th grade to wear a face covering at school, on a school bus, or at a school function,” the order reads. 

Parents who want to opt their child out of the mandate must notify the local school district or school personnel, according to the order.  

“No one cares more about the health and well-being of a child than a parent,” Lee tweeted. “Districts will make the decisions they believe are best for their students, but parents are the authority and ultimate decision-makers for their individual child’s health and well-being.”

Lee also announced that he will not be calling a special legislative session to address school mask mandates across the state, as requested by Republican members of the Tennessee General Assembly last week. 

In a statement, Lee acknowledged that hospitals are “struggling under the weight of COVID,”  but that those hospitals are filled with adults. 

“Requiring parents to make their children wear masks to solve an adult problem is in my view wrong,” Lee said. 

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, there were 43 pediatric patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 as of Sunday. Of those patients, 16 were in the ICU and eight were on ventilators.

Memphis-area legislators were quick to speak out against the executive order. Rep. Antonio Parkinson called the order “irresponsible.” 

“The goal is to stop the spread of the virus in Tennessee,” Parkinson said. “The executive order in no way will curb the spread of the virus. As a matter of fact, it may accelerate the spread of Covid-19 in our state.”

Senator Raumesh Akbari said of the executive order that she “could not disagree with this more.”

“Hospitals across Tennessee are at or near capacity,” Akbari tweeted. “Some hospitals’ pediatric cases doubled in the course of a week. Masks are such a little thing that can protect our kids and teachers. Kids can’t get vaccinated and should be protected at all costs.” 

Rep. London Lamar tweeted that she is “so scared” the decision will lead to more pediatric Covid-19 cases.  

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Collierville Parents Protest School Mask Mandate

(Photo by Maya Smith).

Collierville residents gathered Monday morning at the Collierville School Administration Building to protest the mask mandate put in place for all Shelby County schools. 

The effort was planned by the group Faces4Freedom, which describes itself as “concerned citizens, parents, teachers, employers, health-care providers, politicians, and everyday workers” who “maintain that all Americans must be afforded choices as to their vaccination status and mask-wearing/face-covering.”

“We hold that no government and no employer has the authority to mandate vaccination and/or mask-wearing,” the group’s “About” section on Facebook reads.

The group billed the Monday event as a peaceful protest against mask mandates, enforced social distancing, and the possibility of a Covid-19 vaccine requirement for students. About 20 protesters showed up toting signs with messages such as “no mask mandate” and “let parents decide.” 

This comes after the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) announced Friday that masks will be required in all the county’s schools regardless of vaccination status. The decision came as a result of an “alarming increase” in pediatric COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, according to the SCHD’s health directive. 

Prior to the directive, Collierville school officials said masks would not be required for students. 

Faces4Freedom said the health department “illegally imposed” the mask mandate and plans to protest the measure until the mandate is reversed. 

The group calls for school leadership to “exclusively recognize and respect parental authority on the question of students wearing face coverings, COVID vaccinations, contact tracing, and social distancing on school system property, on school transportation, and during school events.” 

The group plans to protest mask mandates Tuesday, August 10th, at the Shelby County Health Department office at 2 p.m. There will be a “ceremonial trash can for a public display of disposal for those who are so inclined.”

Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), Speaker of the Tennessee House, has also spoken out against the mandate, tweeting that the issue should be addressed in a special legislative session. 

“No health board should have the authority to tell a private institution what they can and can’t do.” Sexton posted to Twitter. “It’s time to stop unelected bureaucrats from deciding what is best for our children.” 

Republican State Senator Brian Kelsey, who represents parts of the Memphis area, also expressed support for bringing forth the issue in a special session. He calls for legislators to “rein in the power of local health departments.” 

“Our Shelby County Mayor should not be able to force parents and publicly elected schools boards to require their children to wear masks — especially not in private schools either,” Kelsey tweeted. 

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New Mask Mandate Gets Weak Council Reception

Dr. Jeff Warren (Credit: Memphis City Council)

A request could now go to the Shelby County Health Department — not Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland — to reinstate the local mask mandate in an effort to curb rising COVID-19 numbers. 

A last-minute resolution from council member Dr. Jeff Warren was filed Tuesday as committee meetings were already under way. That resolution asked Stickland “to reinstate a mask mandate in the city of Memphis.”

Warren was told neither the council nor the mayor had any authority to reinstate such a mandate at the council’s wrap-up committee meeting Tuesday afternoon. Council member Chase Carlisle told Warren the mayor could require mask mandates on city-owned property. Also, the council could ask the health department to bring back the mask mandate. 

But he said state law pre-empts local bodies from making such moves. This, he said, rendered Warren’s resolution “meaningless” and that there was “no point” to it. 

“We need to do something to make people know they need ot wear their masks indoors mandatorily,” Warren said. “The current COVID virus is infecting people with the vaccine and people with the vaccine are infectious even if they’re not sick. The only way we’re going to be able to blunt this curve and not make it horrible is to enact this and ask the mayor to do what he can to make it mandatory within the city.”  

A city ordinance did bring Memphis’ first mask mandate, officials explained to Warren. But it was passed as Strickland had authority to make executive orders in an emergency situation, said council attorney Allan Wade. However, once Tennessee Governor Bill Lee pulled the statewide emergency order on COVID-19, Strickland lost the authority to mandate masks citywide.        

Warren asked if the council passed a mask mandate, would that force Governor Lee “to tell us it is illegal?” Wade explained that Memphis Police Department officers could not enforce it and, if they did, the council “would have some lawsuits to defend.”

As the debate dwindled Tuesday afternoon, other council members began to walk out of the conference room on their way to the council chambers downstairs at city hall. However, Warren explained his reasoning for fighting hard for some kind of mask mandate. 

“People in the restaurant business and other businesses are saying, ‘please give us some government cover for mandatory masking in our business. We don’t want to be the one to ask to do that. We need some help,’” Warren said. “So, what help can we give them?”

Warren’s resolution will go before the full council Tuesday evening asking the health department for a mask mandate. It will have no up or down recommendation from the council committee. 

City leaders dropped enforcement of the city-wide mask mandate on May 15th. The move followed Lee ending the state-wide public health emergency and the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) ending its mask mandate. 

COVID-19 numbers have risen and continue to rise, however. The SCHD said in July it had no plan to bring back its mask mandate, though, a new health directive issued Tuesday aligned the county with federal policies that now strongly recommend masks indoors, even of those who have been vaccinated.  

Masks are required, once again, in Shelby County government buildings. Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey told WMC-TV that any statewide COVID mandates are, basically, over.   

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Council Member Requests Return of Memphis Mask Mandate

Dr. Jeff Warren (Credit: Memphis City Council)

Mask mandates for Memphis could return via a last-minute request from Memphis City Council member Dr. Jeff Warren for Tuesday’s council meeting. 

As council meetings were underway Tuesday morning, a revised committee agenda was issued. The new agenda included a resolution requesting Mayor Jim Stickland’s administration “to reinstate a mask mandate in the city of Memphis.” The new resolution was made public about 15 minutes before the committee to review the measure was scheduled to begin. 

The resolution came with an additional request for same-night minutes, meaning if the resolution were approved Tuesday, it could not be changed at a future council meeting. However, if the resolution is approved, it does not bind Strickland to act upon it. 

City leaders dropped enforcement of the city-wide mask mandate on May 15th. The move followed Gov. Bill Lee ending the state-wide public health emergency and the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) ending its mask mandate. 

COVID-19 numbers have risen and continue to rise, however. Though, the SCHD said in July it had no plan to bring back its mask mandate. However, masks are required, once again, in Shelby County government buildings. Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey told WMCTV that COVID mandates are, basically, over.   

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Mask Mandate Ends (for Most) on Saturday

Photo: Shelby County Health Department

Masks will be recommended, not mandated, beginning Saturday in Shelby County. 

The Shelby County Health Department issued a new health directive Wednesday afternoon with “greatly reduced mandatory restrictions.” The move has been expected as COVID-19 case numbers have stabilized over the past month, a requirement of lifting the mask mandate outlined in the previous health directive. In mid-April, the county averaged 165 new cases each day. That average is now 135 new cases per day.

“Now that the COVID-19 vaccines are available to the majority of Shelby County’s population, the health department’s role is continued monitoring of COVID-19 cases, contact tracing, and providing recommendations, including that all eligible persons be vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Shelby County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph. “Although we are moving from requirements to recommendations, a few mandatory requirements will remain in effect, such as cooperating with the health department on case investigations and contact tracing.”

The new directive also:

• Provides guidance on when masks must not be worn, when they must be worn, and when they are highly recommended

• Requires masks for certain employees who work in environments where there is an increased risk of exposure

• Requires businesses, school authorities, and public authorities that require masks to post proper notice signs at frequently used entrances

• Greatly reduces the number of mandatory restrictions in favor of highly recommended guidance

• Allows event planners for large-scale festivals, fairs, parades, sporting events, and community events to seek the department’s technical assistance for their event plans

• Allows schools to seek the department’s technical assistance for their physical locations

“We are pleased to be able to make these modifications to the health directive. We will continue to monitor viral activity and align our health recommendations with guidance from local public health and medical experts,” said Interim Health Director LaSonya Hall. “And we are glad to be able to safely lift some restrictions and return to more normal activities.” 

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Mask Mandate Likely to End Wednesday, Shots for Youth (12-15) Could Begin Thursday

Shelby County Health Department/Facebook

Leaders hinted (again) Tuesday that a new health directive expected Wednesday would make masks a recommendation, not a requirement, but said they expected to begin vaccinating those as young as 12 years old on Thursday. 

Leaders have hinted at an end to the mask mandate for weeks. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris alluded to it again during a briefing from the Memphis Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force. 

He read the current health directive, which says ”if case numbers and other indicators remain stable over the next 30 days, the next health directive, which will be issued in May [12th] 2021, will shift from a mandatory approach to a recommendation approach [on masks].” Harris noted that the county’s virus numbers have remained stable for the last 30 days. But he would not say more as not to “get out in front of tomorrow’s announcement.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel but we still have a long way to go,” Harris said.  

The new guidance expected Wednesday would end the department’s original county-wide mask mandate, which began in July. The Memphis City Council and Mayor Jim Strickland ordered a mask mandate inside the Memphis city limits in June.  

Tennessee never had a statewide mask mandate. But Gov. Bill Lee ended all public COVID-19 health orders late last month, which ended local authority for governments in 89 counties to issue mask mandates. 

At the same time, Lee requested counties with independent health departments (like Shelby) to end mask mandates no later than May 30. Knox, Hamilton, Sullivan, and Madison Counties already ended mandates. Shelby and Davidson Counties have not. 

“COVID-19 is now a managed public health issue in Tennessee and no longer a statewide public health emergency,” Lee said at the time. “As Tennesseans continue to get vaccinated, it’s time to lift remaining local restrictions, focus on economic recovery and get back to business in Tennessee.”

Shelby County’s COVID-19 cases have rebounded back to levels seen in early February. The latest average weekly positive rate reported (for the week of April 25th to May 1st) was 6.8 percent. That’s roughly the same rate reported at the end of May/beginning of June in 2020, though the rate is nowhere near the peaks of three surges the county experienced (11.8 percent in mid-April 2020, 12.7 percent in mid-July 2020, and the record-high 17.9 percent in late December 2020). 

Case rates could fall here, leaders said Tuesday, if they get the expected green light from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to begin vaccinating those as young as 12, a pool of about 50,000 in Shelby County. 

Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, said if the approval comes tomorrow, vaccines could go to children here Thursday. He said getting a vaccination is a “leadership opportunity” for young people.

“Young people have led the way in so many aspects of our lives through our history,” McGowen said. “This is an opportunity, again, for them to show the way and show they are ready to move on and … get vaccinated.” 

Demand for vaccinations is waning in Shelby County, he said. This will end many massive vaccinations sites around the county. While the Pipkin Building site will remain as a site, federal agencies will end their stints there on May 19th.

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Lawmakers Urge Lee for Mask Mandate

Tennessee General Assembly

Clockwise from top left Rep. London Lamar, Rep. Vincent Dixie, Senator Brenda Gilmore, and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem.

Governor Bill Lee

A group of Democratic Tennessee lawmakers urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to issue a mask mandate immediately.

Lee announced Sunday that new social gathering restrictions would be put in place for the state of Tennessee. He signed an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people. However, places of worship, weddings, some sporting events, and funerals are exempt from the order.

Lee has still not implemented a mask mandate despite pleas from healthcare workers and local lawmakers. Though Tennessee is a hotspot for virus growth, Lee has refused to order a mask mandate and refused again on Sunday, calling such mandates a “heavily politicized issue.”


In a virtual news conference Monday, Tennessee state Senator Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) spoke about how COVID-19 has hit Black and brown communities hardest. 

Gilmore

“COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate but institutionalized bias toward Black and brown people is causing a high rate for African Americans and Latinos, not only in Tennessee but across this country,” she said. “It’s ravaging people of color. Approximately 60 percent of the people who have died are African Americans and Latinas. It doesn’t mean that we’re more susceptible to get this virus. It just means that when we’re infected, we are most likely to die from it.”

State Rep. London Lamar (D- Memphis) said, ”[Lee] made this a political issue when he decided not to implement a mask mandate and further our ability to kill more Tennesseans by not putting in his mandate and forcing us to protect one another. 

Lamar

On the executive order, Lamar stated, “that’s not enough, we wouldn’t have to do that if we would have implemented a mass mandate, a long time ago,” she went on to say that she is tired of going to funerals during the holidays.

“I’ve never been in the shoes of our governor, Governor Lee,” said State Rep. Yussuf Hakim (D-Chattanooga), “but I believe it’s been laid out clearly that there’s great harm being done to the average citizen in the state of Tennessee. When you talk about us being the worst in the world, that means to me that you have to take exceptional actions to mitigate such circumstances.”

Hakim

Legislators on the call said that the Tennessee economy would not have been threatened if Lee had acted sooner.

”It is our fault that the Tennessee economy is suffering?” Lamar said. “Because businesses wouldn’t have to limit operations businesses and could still be functioning the way they’re functioning in other states if we implement simple tactics like mask mandates,” said Lamar. “We are killing our own economy, because we are not acting with leadership and courage and responsibility. We have over $1 billion in a fund that would be could be used to help families during this difficult time.”

They cited several republican politicians who also supported stronger measures to protect Tennesseans, like Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, and former U.S. Senator Bill Frist.

Dixie

“Let’s take the power; let’s lead by example,” said state Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville). “I would like for us to increase testing even though we have a vaccine. I think the approach that Governor Lee seems to be taking is the survival of the fittest.”

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Vanderbilt Report: Masks Stem COVID-19 Death Rates in Tennessee

Vanderbilt Univeristy

Masks have worked to slow COVID-19 deaths in Tennessee, according to new research from Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. 

Researchers have closely monitored the virus’ behavior in the state since it arrived in March. Since then, researchers, doctors, and public health officials in the university’s School of Medicine have issued policy papers on varying topics. These act as grade cards on COVID’s spread here and how Tennesseans are reacting to it.

The latest policy paper shows a direct link to mask mandates and lower incidents of COVID-19-related deaths across Tennessee’s 95 counties.

Such mandates are in effect for just under two-thirds (63 percent) of Tennesseans, usually in large cities. These areas adopted masks earlier than other parts of the state, so the report dubs them the “early adopters.”

The remaining 37 percent either never faced a mask mandate (31 percent) or were only told to wear masks during the virus’ peak (so far) in the summer months (6 percent). The report labels these groups “never adopters” and “late adopters.”

Vanderbilt Univeristy

Early-adopting counties, like Shelby County, had higher death rates before the surge of cases in July, according to the report. The death rate began to fall for those counties within a couple of weeks after masks were mandated.

Jesse Davis

University of Memphis professor Marina Levina and daughter Sasha aren’t afraid of these monster and mythical creature masks.

However, death rates rose into July in those late-adopting counties or in the counties that never mandated masks. Death rates fell in those late-adopting counties a couple of weeks after implementing a mask mandate. Death rates continue to rise in those counties that never mandated masks.

The research concluded that there is a “clear difference” in death rates between counties that have mandated masks and those that have not.

“The COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee is now at its highest point to date in terms of hospitalizations and new cases, and deaths will likely continue to increase,” reads the report. “The good news is that we have learned a great deal since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly 80 percent of Tennesseans now report wearing masks in public all or most of the time, but the distribution of mask wearers is likely skewed to large urban areas where masks are required (where self-reported masking behavior is well above 90 percent).”
 
As of November 6th, more than 3,500 Tennesseans have died of COVID-19. In Shelby County 594 had died from the virus as of Wednesday morning.

Read the full report here:

[pdf-1]