‘I’m pleading for patience and grace.’ Raleigh holds off on ending mask mandate.
It will be another two weeks before Raleigh considers dropping its mask mandate.
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin met with Wake County public health officials Tuesday to see if the city’s COVID-19 numbers were low enough to stop requiring people to wear a mask in indoor public settings, which includes restaurants, bars and stores in addition to city-owned buildings.
“I would just ask people to please be patient,” Baldwin said. “We have another meeting in two weeks. We want to like look at the numbers, make sure we’re doing the right thing. And go from there, but I’m pleading for patience and grace.”
Local health officials believe there will be updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the next week or so, Baldwin said.
“People on both sides are very adamant. And we are getting pressure from people to remove the mask mandate,” Baldwin said. “I’m getting pressure from people to keep the mask mandate. And that’s why I have to make, along with Commissioner (Chair Sig) Hutchinson, we have to make data-driven decisions. I am responsible and I have to feel good about the decision I make. And quite frankly, we’re just not there yet.”
About half of Wake County’s municipalities have mask mandates while the others don’t. It’s up to each individual mayor to decide whether to have a mask mandate that applies to their respective boundaries.
“I am so tired of wearing a mask it’s not funny,” Baldwin said. “However, I believe it is a form of protection for me, but me protecting other people from me as well, should I have COVID. I think everybody’s tired of wearing a mask.”
Baldwin considered relaxing the mask mandate in November but said the number of cases and positivity rates were both better than they are now. The mask mandate has been in place since August.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 12:15 PM.
