NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hundreds of physicians, business owners and constituents are calling for an indoor mask mandate in Nashville. They're hoping this could be the answer to slow down the spread of COVID-19 and keep the number of hospitalizations down.
More than 900 people have signed a letter encouraging the Metro Public Health Department and Mayor John Cooper to reinstate a temporary indoor mask mandate.
In the virtual letter, Dr. Katrina Green said vaccines are the way to end this pandemic, but until vaccination rates are sufficient and inclusive of children, we need to ensure everyone is wearing a mask.
She adds, immunity from vaccinations takes time.
City Health Director Dr. Gill Wright has said he would only pass a mask mandate if the hospitals were completely overrun with COVID patients.
Dr. Green says it’s irresponsible to wait until our healthcare system completely implodes to pass a commonsense mitigation measure.
"I wholeheartedly disagree with Dr. Wright, as many of my fellow frontline healthcare workers. He must not know how bad things really are in the hospitals right now. It's been a year and a half of nonstop pandemic and our healthcare workers are incredibly fatigued, myself included. And many of them have burned out completely,” Emergency Physician Dr. Katrina Green said.
Dr. Green encourages everyone to get the vaccine and wear a face covering when you can, regardless of vaccination status when indoors.
Read the full letter here.
Related story: Metro indoor mask mandate one vote away from final approval
