RACINE — The City of Racine is now requiring city staff and members of the public to wear masks while in city-owned buildings, regardless of their vaccination status.
Racine Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox said in a statement Wednesday the call was made after the CDC updated their guidance regarding mask-wearing, as the country sees a spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly of the delta variant of the virus.
Racine's mask policy goes into effect Thursday.
According to the city, the mask requirement includes:
- City employees while at work, indoors, if they are not alone in an individual office with the door closed
- City employees while traveling for work in City vehicles with more than one passenger
- Members of public when entering City facilities including City Hall, City Hall Annex, Fire and Police facilities, Community Centers, and other City building
- Members of the public engaged in programing and sports inside of City owned Community Centers
Bowersox said in a statement: "This is to deter the potential spread of the highly infectious Delta variant strain of the virus. Due to the recent increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the CDC has placed the City of Racine in the “Substantial Transmission Category” defined by case rate over the last seven days. Currently, the City’s COVID-19 case rate is 73 per 100,000, which is a 900% increase over the last two weeks."