DUBLIN, Ga. — The city of Dublin passed an emergency ordinance by a 6-1 vote Tuesday afternoon requiring the use of masks or face coverings.
The city notified local media of an emergency called Dublin City council meeting around 2:30 p.m.
The 4:30 p.m. meeting was streamed to Facebook and concluded just after 15 minutes of discussion in which two resolutions were presented.
One was an emergency ordinance requiring face coverings within city limits, and the other will go to Gov. Kemp asking that he put a statewide mask mandate in place or allow local government to do it themselves.
The mask ordinance says masks should be worn inside businesses or stores or while outside in a place where social distancing is not possible.
Anyone who is unable to wear a mask due to age or an underlying health condition is exempt from the ordinance.
It says you do not have to wear a mask in your car, when you are with a member of your household, while eating or drinking, if you are under the age of 10, or if law enforcement needs to verify your identity.
The ordinance also requires businesses to put up clearly legible signs that state, "Per City Ordinance, all persons must wear facial coverings or a mask while on the premises."
Anyone who violates the ordinance will at first receive a warning.
The first violation after the warning could cost you up to $25, the second violation could cost you up to $50 and all violations including and after the third could cost you up to $100.
The move comes just days after a special White House report says the City of Dublin and Laurens County is in what they call the "red zone" when it comes down to COVID-19.
It means that in the last week, new cases in the county are above 100 for every 100,000 people and more than 10% of the coronavirus tests are positive.
The South Central Health District is reporting 834 confirmed cases with 330 of those confirmed in the past 14 days. Besides nursing homes, the district says community spread is also to blame for the latest increase, so now the city manager is urging everyone to follow the CDC's guidelines.