DeKalb County leaders launch “No Mask, No Service” campaign

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County leaders kicked off a new step in their “Stop the Spread” initiative Saturday by going to a local shopping plaza, handing out masks and signs to small businesses as a part of a “No Mask, No Service” campaign.

The leaders hope to hand out some 20,000 masks and signs, distributed among smaller businesses within the county footprint to help encourage shoppers or customers to wear a mask when out in public to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

They chose Saturday to kick off the campaign because it just so happens to be the day the county’s mask mandate goes into effect.

DeKalb requires residents over age eight “to utilize a face covering or mask which covers the nose and mouth when in any public place.”

“Guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that wearing face coverings or masks, maintaining social distance and washing our hands frequently are the best ways to protect ourselves and others,” DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said. “By providing masks to businesses that enforce a “No Mask, No Service” policy, we are providing them with the tools needed to promote a safe and healthy environment for their employees, customers and the general public.”

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DeKalb County is the latest in a growing list of Georgia communities mandating residents wear masks out in public. The mandates do however run contrary to the statewide order by Governor Brian Kemp.

Kemp has been vocal in asking Georgia residents to wear the masks as well, but has not been willing to make it mandatory within the state.

Thurmond told Channel 2 anchor Sophia Choi Wednesday after the ordinance passed that he believes it would hold up in court should the state challenge his county’s ordinance like they did Atlanta’s.

Cox Media Group