EDITORIAL: Let local jurisdictions decide mask orders

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, July 18, 2020

Government has the most direct impact on our lives at the local level. Early on in the global pandemic, Gov. Brian Kemp agreed, resisting calls for a statewide order for Georgians to shelter in place, saying those decisions are best left to local governments. 

That’s why Kemp’s order this week to bar local governments from taking matters into their own hands and protecting their communities through temporary, common-sense measures such as requiring face masks is bewildering at best. 

Earlier this week, an order approved by Baldwin County Commissioners took effect requiring masks in all county buildings. 

That was short-lived. 

The county’s order was usurped by the governor’s recent order, as have similar orders requiring masks in more than 30 other communities across the state. 

While COVID-19 is a global, national and state crisis, local communities can do the most to combat the virus. Our state is too diverse in age, population and health demographics to have a blanket mandate such as this one by the governor on an issue such as this with such serious ramifications on public health. 

As of Thursday, Baldwin County had 715 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 82 residents hospitalized and 35 deaths. For the past few weeks, community spread of the virus has increased locally, with cases extending beyond the prisons and nursing home populations. As Baldwin County prepares in just a few weeks to welcome back 7,000 students to Georgia College, and as local K-12 schools grapple with reopening, these growing numbers are reason enough to take preemptive action. 

Local jurisdictions should have leeway to do that in this public health crisis.

This virus does not have a one-size-fits-all impact. Local leaders must use the resources and authority they have to keep their communities safe. Based on what we know right now, masks seem to be the second-best safety precaution we have outside of a shelter-in-place order. 

Allowing local officials to take community action to help in mitigating the spread of the virus just makes sense.

When hotspots emerge, more drastic measures are warranted. 

We are not saying the state needs to go into full lockdown mode, but we are saying that the mayor, city council, the county board of commissioners and the commission chairman ought to be able to make local decisions based on science, math and common sense. 

Each city and county should be able to make its own decisions and pass its own restrictions, if needed. 

Local jurisdictions should be allowed to pass their own restrictions, as they did early on during the pandemic. 

This is a matter of public health and lives are at stake. 

One size does not fit all when it comes to battling COVID-19. 

The governor may very well have the authority but that doesn’t mean it’s the best use of power. 

Let local jurisdictions decide.