MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Commissioners in Monongalia County have eliminated the mask mandate in county buildings for those who are fully vaccinated.
Commissioners and other elected officials have access to regular coronavirus status meetings, commission president Sean Sikora said then decision was made after consecutive weeks of falling numbers.
“My last report from the health department says we’re down to .7 cases per 100,000 people,” Sikora said,” And that’s lowest we’ve been in a long time and the numbers have consistently been dropping.”
As the most recent meeting of the county commission got underway Sikora made the announcement as many took their masks off.
“To come into one of our buildings, if you are vaccinated you don’t have to wear a mask,” Sikora said,” If you are not vaccinated you’re required to wear a mask.”
County employees will still have access to plexiglass and can wear masks if they wish. Additionally, each elected official is free to establish their own guidelines moving forward. The guidelines can be relaxed or more strict.
“Each elected officer may address the mask differently for their particular office,” Sikora said,” But, for the must part we were all in unison.”
Sikora stressed the mask mandate is the only portion of the COVID response plan that is being rolled back. Public health officials are still monitoring cases closely as variant strains of the virus spread.
“We still continue to address outbreaks as they occur and take measures for each of those outbreaks,” Sikora said.
The Wednesday, June 23 seven-day trend map from the DHHR shows Monongalia County with 18 active cases.