Nashville Reinstates Mask Mandate In Government Buildings, Schools Likely To Follow

Masking is quickly making a comeback in Nashville. Metro government buildings will require face coverings starting Thursday, and now the superintendent of Metro Schools is recommending universal masking for the start of the semester next week.

Local health officials have advised the city that given the high rate of COVID spread with the more contagious delta variant, even fully vaccinated people need to mask up. The majority of Tennessee is considered high-spread with just 40% of the population fully vaccinated. Numbers are only slightly better in Davidson County.

Nashville’s masking order, announced Wednesday afternoon, applies to Metro buildings but not private businesses.

With the rapid increase of the Delta variant, and in accordance with CDC and @NashvilleHealth recommendations, face coverings will be required inside Metro Government buildings beginning Thursday, August 5. pic.twitter.com/Ooz7V8CzTQ

— John Cooper (@JohnCooper4Nash) August 4, 2021

In recent days, local governments in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis have also reinstated masking mandates within government buildings.

Masking in schools has turned out to be more divisive, even though no one under 12 years old is vaccinated. And there are signs that the delta variant may spread more easily among kids, with children’s hospitals filling up in hard-hit states.

The Metro Board of Education is scheduled to meet Thursday morning to consider a return to masking. But now they’ll be starting with a recommendation from district superintendent Adrienne Battle. Previously, she had announced masks would be optional. But that was when case counts were dropping every day.

Teacher survey finds support for masks

“I wish that more Americans had taken advantage of the life-saving vaccine that has been available to them, so that the pandemic would be less of a factor in the lives of our students and a universal mask mandate would not be necessary,” she says in a statement. “I’m hopeful that more community members will get the vaccine so that we can mitigate the spread of the virus and return to a normal school setting.”

The Metro Nashville Education Association, which represents teachers, released a survey Wednesday that found two-thirds of its members favor a mask mandate.

The state’s top Republicans have discouraged school districts from requiring masks. While Gov. Bill Lee says he’s leaving the decision up to local school boards, House Speaker Cameron Sexton even threatened to have the legislature override any public schools who impose a mandate.

Metro Schools would be one of just a few to mandate masks. But the list may grow as districts discover positive COVID cases among students. Rural Hancock County went to a mask mandate this week after dealing with COVID among students on the very first day.

WPLN’s Damon Mitchel contributed to this report.