COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of Columbia has repealed its emergency mask mandate as the city has seen a significant drop in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
The council voted unanimously to end the order at their council meeting Tuesday afternoon.
The mask rule required people to wear coverings in most public spaces. According to the ordinance, individuals violating the mandate could have been fined up to $100.00.
This latest ordinance had been in effect since early September. It was extended last month and wasn't set to end until next month. But the ordinance allowed the flexibility for the council to repeal it early.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin cited falling case numbers and hospitalizations for why the chase could happen.
The massive surge in virus cases that began in the summer has waned dramatically in recent weeks. The latest numbers from Sunday showed 382 cases, the lowest number seen since July 18. At its peak during the summer surge, fueled by the Delta variant of COVID-19, there were over 6,000 daily cases recorded.
South Carolina has never had a statewide mandate, even during the safe at home orders last year. Instead, it was left to local governments to pass measures.
The first mask mandate Columbia ever passed during the pandemic was back in June 2020, several months into the crisis. Columbia was the second South Carolina city, following Charleston, to enact such a rule.
The mandate was extended several times until May of this year. But at that point, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ended the state of emergency, which was used as the legal justification by local agencies to create the mask mandate. Once that happened, all local mask mandates became invalid. With cases having fallen to low levels, Columbia did not attempt to create a new ordinance.
However, cases began rising again in July, and continued to surge through August, reaching a peak in the latter part of that month and into early September. Local hospitals and some in the public began urging the city to take new action, which it did.