Cumberland County reinstates mask mandate starting Friday

Cumberland County will officially join the growing list of North Carolina counties reinstating mask mandates.

The mandate will go into place on Friday at 5 p.m.

On Tuesday, county commissioners voted unanimously to ask the public health director to issue an order that masks be worn in public, indoor spaces.

"The fact is, we made so much progress in the first half of 2021, and it is disheartening to see our COVID-19 numbers on the rise again, especially in the last couple of weeks," said Chairman Charles Evans during Tuesday's meeting. "Cumberland County is in the red zone ... and we each need to do something about it."

The chairman was referencing a map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing all of North Carolina in red, indicating a high level of virus transmission.

The positivity rate for infection in the county, as of Thursday, is 15.1 percent. In a press release, county leaders said that's almost three times higher than the rate at the beginning of July.

According to the county's order, masks must be worn in businesses, restaurants, gyms, schools, places of worship or "any place the public is invited or allowed to assemble."

Wake, Durham and Orange counties have also mandated masks.