(Lebanon, TN 10/22/2020)- Out of concern for the rising number of COVID-19 cases in our county and in an effort to keep our community safe, our economy going, and our schools open, Mayor Hutto has made the decision to reissue the mask mandate in Wilson County. This morning, Mayor Hutto contacted the three city mayors, Chambers of Commerce, school superintendents, Director of WEMA, the Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital, and a group of Middle Tennessee county mayors, which were in concurrence with his decision. The mandate will be effective October 24, 2020 at 12:01a.m. Central Daylight Time and will expire on October 30, 2020 at 11:59p.m. CDT as required by Executive Order No. 63 and shall be reissued and in conjunction with executive orders from Governor Lee regarding the wearing of face masks.
Wilson County’s first mask mandate was issued on July 17th, when the 14-day case average was 40.4. By September 25th, the 14-day case average had decreased to 22.1 cases per day. Thus, we had seen the positive results of the mask mandate’s effectiveness. The mask mandate was lifted on September 30th in the hopes that the status quo would be maintained. However, the 14-day case average climbed to 45.5 cases per day on October 19th. On October 19th Mayor Hutto joined in a virtual meeting with Governor Bill Lee and other Tennessee county mayors, where Governor Lee announced that several Tennessee counties, including Wilson County, were listed as “hot spots.” Accordingly, it was addressed in the meeting that hospitalizations in Tennessee had risen by 30% since October 1, 2020. As a result, Governor Lee highly encouraged mayors of any listed “hot spots” to issue mask mandates. Recent trends of positive cases in Wilson County have continuously increased. The charts (see below) illustrate the effectiveness of the first mask mandate, which was in place from July 17th-September 30th. Wilson County’s full data dashboard can be found at www.wilsoncountytn.gov