Mayor Davis is reaffirming his position that masks or cloth face coverings save lives. Executive Order 2020-009 Protect Augustans, was issued with all citizens in mind, after at-length consultation and discussions with public health officials and a daily review of the data. It is no secret that COVID-19 cases continue to rise at an extraordinarily high rate across the state of Georgia and in Augusta-Richmond County. 

Gov. Kemp's "Bridge Too Far" approach on a mask requirement and now the disregard for the local governance of cities and municipalities is beyond concerning. At a time when executive powers should be used to unite Georgians from all corners of the state to slow the virus from spreading while saving lives, an apolitical public health crisis has become political. Hospital beds are filling in communities, and state efforts are being placed on the reactivation of a field hospital for the overflow of patients infected with COVID-19.

With the rise in COVID-19 cases and the need to protect citizens and communities from further spread of the novel coronavirus, cities all across the state of Georgia, large and small, rural and urban were compelled to take proactive measures once again and require that face-coverings or masks be worn when in public. A mask requirement is the least that we can do because we are headed in the wrong direction that will inevitably hurt our businesses and communities at large much more.