Evansville Mask Mandate Remains in Effect
Evansville Mask Mandate Remains in Effect
Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke decided to extend the City of Evansville's mask mandate after coronavirus numbers continue to rise in the river city.
Mayor lloyd winnecke took to social media earlier today to announce that the city of evansville's mask mandate would extend into a second week, and i sat down with the mayor at his office to hear why this decision was made.
"looking at the data, the data continues to climb.
We've had 642 cases just in the last 14 days in vanderburgh county.
After speaking with the health department and our hospitals, it's clear that the mask order needs to remain in place."
With more than 1100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in vanderburgh county and 38 new cases added to that number today, the mayor decided that his mask mandate would remain in effect for another 7 days.
Not only are the total number of infections continuing to increase in the river city, but the positivity rate has almost doubled in the last two weeks.
On july second, the positivity rate for those tested for coronavirus in vanderburgh county was 3.7 percent, and on tuesday, that number has jumped up a full two percentage points to 5.7 percent.
And doctors around the tri- state continue to support the mayor's mask mandate as they look to slow the spread.
"for those that are asymptomatic and don't know they're carying it, this mask is really what's protecting the rest of the people around you, so it's making a small personal sacrifice to help benefit others and help benefit the rest of the community."
With coronavirus numbers continuing to increase or stay the same in the city of evansville, the mayor said he isn't sure exactly when the mandate will be dissolved, but he said it will take a prolonged downward trend in the t otal number of confirmed cases and the positivity rate that they're seeing in the city.
And the mayor siad he never thought he'd have to mandate mask wearing, but now he says it's necessary.
"this is a minor inconvenience, in the sense that what we're trying to do is protect the public health, because we want kids to get back to school safely.
We want businesses to rebound out of a horrendous business climate and get back to where they once were, and to do that we all have to do our part and wear a mask."
And the mayor said that he's still adamant about epd not playing a role in enforcing this mandate, rather he expects to see evansville citizens take on the responsibility of wearing a mask to protect themselves and others in the community.
Reporting live in evasnville, jake
