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Full interview: Raleigh mayor on mask mandate
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin discusses the city's new requirement that people cover their faces in public during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin discusses the city's new requirement that people cover their faces in public during the coronavirus pandemic.
This is about to become a much more common sight in Raleigh up here with me, Mayor Marianne Baldwin and Mayor. You said that this was kind of born out of what you saw in Glenwood. Sounds what you saw in your own experience yet. So last weekend, um, really heightened for me the need to move forward with face coverings. What? We saw Glenn with South just hundreds of young people out there, Not socially distance not wearing masks. That was alarming. Second went to the grocery store. Half the people there did not have masks on many of them in their seventies. I I'm like, this is our most vulnerable population, and I've gotten a lot of reports to from people. Residents were really concerned there. Apartment complexes. There are hundreds of people outside mingling there in the swimming pools. They're not socially distancing. They're not wearing masks. This was really meant t to make people aware and say, Hey, folks, we need to do this to protect others. And you said that you're gonna model this off of Orange County, Durham County. They've taken a largely educational approach. They're not history. Any citations? Do you think that's people are gonna listen. You know, I think people will follow rules. This is a rule. Um, I can go back to many years ago when I was on the council and we had a drought and people continue to water their lawns until we said, Here's the rule. You can't water your lawns. I'm hoping that people will comply. I know in Derm they have complied. And if they have done it willingly, You know, a lot of people are saying How can I help? Right. This is how they can help wearing a mask if you're asymptomatic, you have this. You don't know it. You prevent the spread. So this is how people can all pitch in and ensure that we're safe. You feel like because this is gonna fall on kind of everybody. What would you say, Teoh? Somebody who's walking, they have their mask on and they're seeing people, not socially distance, not wearing masks. You know, everybody has to accept some level of personal responsibility and all of this and it's up to all of us. You know, if you're walking your dog, you know, and you're alone and you know that's cool. If you're on a greenway at a park. You know you're with your family. That's cool. You know, we're not saying to people you have to wear face masks when you go outside were saying, Please wear a face covering if you can't socially distance so you know that there's a lot of leeway there. But I think that people I want to do the right thing and you think that businesses will be will be helpful and kind of, you know, like you said, it's gonna have to fall on the people running the grocery stores, running the pharmacies. Do you think they're going to execute this for you? You know, I think that most grocery stores have been compliant. I think that my intention is to send the message that they have to be compliant. They have to do this, They have to step up. And I'm hoping that are large. Grocery stores are hearing this. Are pharmacies are restaurants, you know, making sure. Okay, you could do that. Now I will tell you if you're in retail and somebody comes knocking on your door and you're 17 or 18 or 20 year old manning the cash register, that's we don't expect you to say you can't come in here without a mask that puts that person in a vulnerable situation. What we're saying is, if you run an operation of retail center, please please make sure that people are wearing face masks and make sure your employees are as well. And you describe the surrounding municipalities congenial, I think, Do you feel are you disappointed that a lot of them haven't stepped up to require this? You know, we are congenial, and we all came together on the stay at home order, and that was a really good thing. But I also understand what, like every were such a different county. You know, we have rural areas, suburban areas and then urban areas, and our urban area needs this. They don't feel the same way, and I totally respect that. What I have impressed upon them, though, is that people we are mobile society people do travel back and forth and just keep looking at the numbers. I mean, let the numbers be your guide. And if you see a spike, let's all work together to do something about it. Great. Thank you so much.