Cumberland County reverts to mask mandate in county buildings as COVID cases rise

Cumberland County officials announced on Wednesday that they would be reinstating a mask mandate in county buildings, regardless of vaccination status.

As of Wednesday, more than 13% of coronavirus tests administered in the county came back positive, health officials said. Cases have been elevated for the past two weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday that areas with substantial or high community spread should return to mask wearing and social distancing. Cumberland County falls into that category, according to state data.

"We are taking this step to try to protect our employees and our citizens from the Delta variant," said County Manager Amy Cannon.

The mask mandate goes into effect on Thursday.