Williamson And Hamilton Counties Requiring Masks This Week, Taking Up Prompt From Governor

Williamson County will soon be requiring people to wear masks within the county limits. That’s after Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Friday allowing local governments across Tennessee to mandate masks if they so choose.  

Hamilton County is also requiring masks, according to a statement from the county on Monday afternoon. But, Hamilton, much like Jackson’s mandate over the weekend, is a place with its own health department that had jurisdiction for this decision before Lee’s order. Jackson is in Madison County, which has the authority for a mask mandate, but has yet to use it on the county-level.

Williamson’s mandate follows a lot of the governor’s guidelines, such as not enforcing masks for children 12 and under, those with breathing-related medical conditions or when people are in their own cars, working outdoors or in a house of worship. Williamson is also excluding use while exercising, if a person is incapacitated and cannot easily remove a mask, and those visiting state government buildings or voting sites. The mandate goes into effect Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s mandate also leaves room for people in a private office in their workspace to take off their mask as well as people who are deaf or hard of hearing and those who care for a person who is hearing impaired if they rely on lip reading to communicate. In the latter situation, the county does encourage using a clear face covering or written communication if possible. Hamilton’s mandate goes into effect Friday.

Williamson County had the state’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus on March 5. For several weeks after that, it had seen a slow climb in cases. But last month, Williamson’s total case count more than doubled — from 606 on June 6 to 1,340 on July 6. In comparison, Hamilton’s total cases nearly tripled in that same timeframe, going from 1,013 to 2,804.

Wilson County may soon follow with a mandate of its own. County Mayor Randall Hutto has said before that he wants to mandate masks, but he hasn’t done so yet under the new authority.