Check out the results: 41% of Mecklenburg poll respondents are done with masks
For the first time in six months, Mecklenburg County will drop its mask mandate at midnight Friday. And in an Observer poll, 41% of respondents said they’re ready to stop masking.
Enforcement of the mask mandate was virtually nonexistent in Mecklenburg since the rule went into effect in late August. Both Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police and Mecklenburg County Public Health told the Observer no enforcement actions have been taken since August on the mask rule.
Still, 43% of 2,955 respondents to the Observer informal poll said they are worried that lifting the mask requirement may lead to a new surge in COVID infections.
Some 33% of respondents said they believe vaccinations are more important than masks, and 24% said they weren’t worried about a surge because no one was wearing a mask under the mandate.
Atrium infectious disease expert Dr. Katie Passaretti said it’s unlikely the end of the mask mandate will directly cause a surge in infections.
“Masks are few and far between,” she said. “That has been true regardless of whatever mandates are in place.
“My sense is it’s not going to make a huge difference,” Passaretti added of dropping the mask rule.
Still, all Mecklenburg County residents should consider their person health risk factors when deciding to remove the masks.
Anyone with underlying health conditions that would put them at high risk for severe COVID complications should continue to wear masks in public, Passaretti said.
More mask responses
Some 39% of respondents to the Observer poll said they would continue to wear masks in all indoor public settings after the mask mandate ends. Another 20% of respondents said they would wear masks occasionally in crowded indoor areas.
Of 3,123 poll respondents, 57% said they always wore masks in public indoor places throughout the mask mandate.
Another 21% said they only wore a mask when required to by businesses. And 14% said they refused to wear masks throughout the six-month mask mandate.
Some 89% of 2,912 respondents said they are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Roughly 10% of poll respondents were not vaccinated.
Meanwhile, state data shows 67% of Mecklenburg County residents have been vaccinated with at least one dose of a COVID vaccine as of Friday.
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