Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron announced Monday, Aug. 3 that the current face covering order for the County will be extended through Saturday, Aug. 29 at 11:59 p.m.
The decision to continue the order came after Gov. Bill Lee released Executive Order No. 55 on Friday, July 31, extending No. 54, which provides local government authority concerning face coverings.
“We are continuing to assess the daily data released from the Tennessee Department of Health to assist us with making the best possible decisions for the health of our community,” Ketron said. “By extending through the end of the month, we will be a few weeks into the school year and will be able to see how that impacts our numbers as well.”
Ketron notes that just one week after the local order went into effect (July 22), on July 29, the County experienced a first—the number of recovered persons was greater than the number of active cases; a trend that has remained stable since.
The mayor said he has hope that trend will continue to improve over the next few weeks.
“Face coverings are not the only protective measure we should be taking at this time,” he said, “we must remain vigilant with other best practices including handwashing, not touching the T-zone of the face, staying at home if you are sick, and staying at least six feet apart from others in public places. Without a viable cure for this dynamic virus, it is up to us to slow the spread in Rutherford County…ALL OF US.”
Ketron expressed his appreciation for community members taking the face covering order seriously. “I am grateful to those doing their part. Your support is imperative to keeping our community as healthy as possible and setting us on a pathway to resiliency. Thank you for your commitment to being #RutherfordResponsible.”
