CAYCE, S.C. — The City of Cayce has amended their city's face mask ordinance to be the first-in-the-state to include South Carolina Education Superintendent Molly Spearman’s language as children and teachers return to school.
Members of the Cayce City Council unanimously adopted an updated face covering ordinance at the August 19, 2020 City Council Meeting.
A recent study by SC's Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) shows “the jurisdictions with mask requirements have shown a 46.3% greater decrease in the total number of cases during the four weeks after the requirements were implemented,” as was cited during council discussion.
Mayor Elise Partin stated, “Wearing masks is working. Including, in our ordinance, the important mandate from Superintendent Spearman is an added layer of protection for our Cayce students, teachers and all who work in our school settings. For all of us, continuing to do a great job wearing masks is a wonderful way to support our students and teachers and keep them healthy and in school.”
Cayce City Council initially enacted a face mask ordinance on July 7, 2020. At that time, the ordinance mandated that a face covering should be worn in places open to the general public that were within city limits. At the time the original ordinance was passed, there were 46,247 confirmed COVID cases and 819 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in South Carolina. Five weeks later, as of August 14, the total number of confirmed COVID cases was *104,841 and the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths was 2,204.
(*While the numbers over the five weeks have more than doubled, the daily confirmed cases and COVID deaths have declined 46.3% in areas where local governments began mandating masks in public buildings.)