County Follows Suit On Masks

Evansville IN

14 August, 2021

11:35 AM

Description

By Steve Burger, WNIN Aug. 14, 2021 Vanderburgh County Commissioners have declared a Local Disaster Emergency due to the surge in COVID-19 cases here. Saying that soaring case levels and low vaccination numbers are prompting the move, Vanderburgh County Comissioners issued an executive order to mandate masks inside all county owned buildings. That follows the move Wednesday by the city and the city-county building authority. Commission President Ben Shoulders says he doesn't know whether the recent surge is going to continue and prompt further actions. "I think it's too early to answer that question. All I can tell you is that we're in close communication with the health department, and we're doing everything we can to encourage folks to get vaccinated, and to take this just as seriously as before. But the number one priority is to get vaccinated. " The executive order for masking in county owned buildings goes into effect at midnight Saturday and will be in effect for seven days. Vaccinations outnumber infections in the latest COVID-19 report for Vanderburgh County. The number of COVID-19 infections in Vanderburgh County has jumped by more than 200. Rising COVID numbers are prompting local officials to return to mask requirements in government buildings. WNIN is the NPR/PBS affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. We serve Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois from our multimedia facility located on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville. For the past several years, the recognized quality of our local news has placed us among the best small market radio news organizations in the nation.