COVID-19 masks aren’t mandatory in Manatee. Commissioners still recommend wearing one
To stop the community spread of COVID-19, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners is asking staff to put together guidance for residents.
Board members voted 5-2 Tuesday afternoon to ask public safety officials to come up with “best practices” to stop the spread. Those guidelines, which are expected to mirror guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would be promoted through social media, community outreach and other platforms.
Commissioners said they weren’t willing to require masks in public, citing enforcement difficulty and a need for personal responsibility.
The discussion came just one day after the state of Florida hit 100,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and the same day Manatee broke 2,000 cases. According to Public Safety Director Jake Saur, the uptick in cases is evidence of community spread in the Bradenton area.
“Given the increase of cases, which can’t be attributed to long-term care facilities, this indicates we have sustained community spread within our younger age groups,” Saur said in an update to the board.
Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees issued a public health advisory Saturday, urging residents statewide to wear a mask. Some commissioners felt that guidance was enough for residents to follow, calling any local requirement “a knee-jerk reaction.”
“It’s a personal freedom thing, and I don’t mean to sound nasty, but if you don’t adhere to what the options are, you’re gonna catch it,” Commissioner Stephen Jonsson said. “To sit here and think we can mandate it and put any type of penalty on it — I can’t even imagine how you go about enforcing it.”
“There is no way that I’m going to look at the citizens of Manatee County and require or mandate that wear a mask. All they’re going to do is rebel. I said that very word before when we were talking the curfew. It was a disaster,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh added.
Jonsson and Commissioner Carol Whitmore cast dissenting votes against a request to have staff put together a list of COVID-19 recommendations.
While most commissioners say they don’t support a mandatory mask ordinance, they agreed that a new recommendation is needed.
“I hope that if we get some language, I hope that language will affect someone’s behavior. I’m not willing to go further because I think a big segment of this population will push back,” said Commissioner Betsy Benac. “All we can do is make a recommendation.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 3:15 PM.
