Delaware County Dropping Mask Mandate Outside Of County Buildings

Once Indiana’s statewide mask mandate ends on Wednesday, the Delaware County Commissioners have voted to only require wearing masks inside county-owned buildings.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

Governor Eric Holcomb is ending the statewide mask mandate on April 6 for most locations.  But he’s said local counties and individual businesses can still require masks.  Last week, Ball State University announced it would continue requiring them on its campus.

On Monday, Delaware County commissioners passed their latest emergency declaration.  It requires masks in county-owned buildings and requests that people respect the decisions of individual businesses that will continue requiring masks.  The declaration passed with a 2-1 vote, with Republican Sherry Riggin voting no.

Though Republican Shannon Henry voted yes for the measure, the law enforcement officer says you’ll still see him wearing a mask.

“I’ve been wearing a bullet-resistant vest for 29 years.  And the reason I get up every morning and put that on is because that’s the best we have to protect us as law enforcement officers.  Same way with the mask – it may not be 100 percent, but it’s the best we have.”

Henry says he’s received more than 100 emails from the public asking commissioners to drop the mandate.

Read More: Local Health Officials Restricted By Proposed Legislation

Since the commissioners last passed an update to the emergency declaration, the county’s positivity rate and individual case count have both gone up – which is in line with most counties in the state.