Guilford County sent out public notice of a Monday, Nov. 15 meeting where the removal of the mandate will be considered and likely approved.

On Wednesday morning, Nov. 3, the county informed the public that the Board of Health was calling the virtual-only Nov. 15 meeting to be held at 6 p.m.

The officially stated purpose of the meeting is for the Board of Commissioners to “meet in its role as the Guilford County Board of Health to consider revisions to Board of Health rules related to face masks and face coverings, and to transact any other necessary business.”

In other counties where there’s a separate Board of Health, this type of mandate and recension of a mandate would be handled by that board made up of health professionals and others. However, in Guilford County, the Board of Commissioners doubles as the Board of Health. 

At a Tuesday, Nov. 2 meeting, the county commissioners voted unanimously to schedule a meeting for Nov. 15.  At the Nov. 2 meeting, there seemed to be a consensus that the mask mandate should end soon – and state law requires the board to give at least 10 days’ notice of plans to change a health ordinance.

Through October and early November, the commissioners have become more comfortable with the county’s COVID-19 case counts and transmission rates.  At the commissioners’ Nov. 2 meeting, Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious disease expert with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, stated that Guilford County and other counties would no doubt continue to see some cases of COVID-19 as the disease transitions from being a pandemic to being endemic.

There has been a great deal of public interest in the topic of masking and the public will be able to watch the meeting through Zoom or at the county’s Facebook page.

Those interested can watch by using a computer, tablet or smartphone and visiting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85468500195.  (If required, enter meeting ID number 854 6850 0195 at the prompt.)

The county’s Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/GuilfordCounty/ .

Those with any questions can contact Deputy Clerk Ariane Webb at awebb@guilfordcountync.gov.