Rising cases, “red zone” classification lead to plea for public to wear face coverings

Increased COVID-19 cases and a rise in confirmed deaths in Franklin County led Hampton Mayor Russell Wood to lead last Thursday’s Hampton City Council meeting off with an urge to citizens to wear protective face masks.

Wood’s proclamation de-tailed the impact of the novel coronavirus nationally, statewide and locally, citing that Franklin County as of last Thursday had more than 200 confirmed cases and four deaths.

Last Thursday morning, the White House’s coronavirus task force labeled Franklin County a “red zone,” or any county with a rate of more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population.

The White House corona-virus task force’s report detailed several recommendations for areas classified as a “red zone,” including limiting gatherings to 10 or fewer people, not visiting bars or gyms, ordering takeout or eating outside instead of inside a restaurant and urging local officials to institute weekly testing of workers at long-term care facilities.

In his proclamation, Wood said that the World Health Organization recommends wear-ing face shields or face cover-ings to curb the spread of COVID-19 among people in public settings.

Given the rise in cases and deaths and Franklin County’s classification as a “red zone,” Wood said he and the City of Hampton encourage its citizens to social distance and wear face coverings “when they are in the proximity of other persons both in public as well as private locations.” Wood further recommended that this practice remains in place until progress curbing the spread of COVID-19 has been made.

“Hopefully this will affect decreasing the number of people infected,” he said. “This is real, we have seen the negative effects and there are a significant number of deaths related to it.”

Wood said that the proclamation is a strong recommendation, but is not a mandate, as the city cannot legally install a mandate requiring citizens to wear masks. However, he implored those who wear masks to do so correctly, with both the mouth and nose covered.

“I know that some people are unhappy with this, but it’s like how you recommend someone looks both ways before crossing the street,” he said. “It’s up to you, but it’s something we encourage people to do.”

On Monday, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors also issued a proclamation at its regular meeting. Titled the “COVID-19 Prevention Initiative in Franklin County,” the proclamation requests that people social distance and wear face shields or cloth masks when they are in proximity of other persons in public. They wish those practices to continue indefinitely until progress in curbing the spread of the virus has been declared by public health officials.

Local health officials agreed with local leaders’ urges to wear masks, citing the importance of protecting individuals and those around them in order to slow the spread of the virus.

“Franklin General Hospital fully supports the mayor’s proclamation regarding the importance of wearing masks in our community,” said Nicole Poock, Marketing and Foundation Manager at Franklin General Hospital. “Getting people to ‘mask up’ is key to slowing the spread of this virus.

“It is one small thing we can all do that will have a big impact on the health of our family, friends and neighbors,” she added. “Wearing a mask prevents you from unknowingly spreading COVID-19 to others who may develop serious complications as a result of the virus. Wearing a mask isn’t just about protecting yourself, it’s about protecting everyone else.”

Poock said that from the hospital’s perspective, people wearing masks will help medical professionals continue to be able to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Should COVID-19 continue to spread at its current rate, Poock said the hospital could encounter serious complications.

“There are concerns about the availability of personal protective equipment for our colleagues and the supplies and equipment needed to care for our patients,” she said. “With this much community spread, though, there is also great concern about staff shortages. It hasn’t hit FGH yet, but unless we as a community take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it will, which in turn will affect the care we’re able to provide.”

Ashely Roberts, Franklin County Public Health Director, agreed that safety practices and following them correctly are the most effective way of stopping the spread of COVID-19.

“Now more than ever with our numbers climbing higher every day, we are needing the public to follow our recommendations in regards to COVID-19,” she said. “That includes wearing a mask when in public, social distancing, good hand hygiene and most importantly, staying home when ill.”