The city of Murfreesboro has canceled a requirement to wear masks in its buildings, following the lead of Rutherford County, which ended its mandate Tuesday.
At a council meeting Thursday, several city council members including Kirt Wade pushed to reinstate the mandate for employees and visitors inside city buildings.
“The virus is still here, and it’s not going anywhere,. And I don’t think we should take that lightly,” Wade said. “I get it people don’t want to wear a mask, but I also get it too if you look at the death toll — that’s pretty steep.”
According to state data, 88 Rutherford County residents have died from COVID-19.
But City Manager Craig Tindall said that of nearly a thousand city employees, only two have been hospitalized with COVID-19. And Mayor Shane McFarland noted Rutherford County is seeing half the number of new cases it was each day this summer.
That’s despite state data showing that Rutherford County’s rate of new infections is higher than neighboring Davidson County. And in Davidson County, health officials said Thursday they see no end for their mask mandate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended cloth face coverings as a proven way to slow the spread of coronavirus, especially when adopted universally in a community.
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