Cobb Reporter

Cobb County has reinstated its mask mandate inside all public buildings, according to a recent press release.

“As the result of what is going on across the nation, the region and of course here in Cobb, we’ve had to make some tough decisions on what we are going to do here in Cobb County government,” Dr. Jackie McMorris, Cobb County manager, said in the release.

Officials hope the requirement will help them cope with recent case rate spikes, which have risen to 493 per 100,000 cases in Cobb county, and 575 per 100,000 in Douglas County, according to a release from Cobb & Douglas Public Health. 

"Wear your mask in public and get vaccinated. These are two of the only weapons that we have against this pandemic, but remain two of the strongest,’’ Dr. Janet Pak Memark, district health director, said in the release.

Covid-19 hospitalization rates have also increased to figures seven times higher than they were in June and 16 times higher overall in Douglas County, with young patients especially targeted by the virus, the release said.

“We’re in the second month of this and it just does not seem to be going away,” Memark said in the Cobb County release.  “Right now we’re seeing younger people being hospitalized, and we continue to see hospitals that are dangerously low on critical care beds and medical-surgical beds.”

Cobb County's spreading rate has surpassed the high community rate standard rate by five times, the release said. As infections continue to surge, hospital units continue to be scarce, according to the release.

“Do what’s right,” McMorris said, urging employees to keep their work environment a safe and healthy place. “We sometimes spend more time with each other than with our biological family. We need to take care of each other.”