LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — Starting Monday, most residents in Wilson County will be required to wear masks.
That’s an about-face for Wilson County, where the Mayor had first said he wouldn’t require masks. But a group of Wilson County doctors says the order doesn’t go far enough to protect kids.
While Wilson County announced a mask mandate starting Monday impacting everyone age 13 and up, the order ends the day school is back in session.
"That’s a very dangerous position to be in, the fact that the mandate expires the day school starts," said Dr. Christi Witherspoon, a Wilson County doctor.
Witherspoon is part of a group of doctors called ProtectMyCare, that says students in Wilson County need to be wearing masks when they go back to school.
Mayor Hutto said he chose August 3rd for the end date of the mask mandate because that is the latest date Gov. Bill Lee has given county mayors in most Tennessee counties the power to issue mask mandates.
Hutto says he doesn’t believe county mayors have the authority to issue mask mandates of any kind within schools, with that authority delegated to the school board.
Witherspoon says the different jurisdictions, different orders and extensions are giving the public mixed messages about the importance of masks.
"If we had had a consistent message all along with education and why it's important to mask and do that in a consistent fashion, I don’t think there would be so much confusion at this point," Witherspoon said.
The order from Wilson County comes just one day after the Wilson County School board voted against mandatory masks for kids.Today Wilson County Schools said it would keep that policy in place because as of now, the mayor’s mask order expires hours before school is back in session.
