LOGAN – Fully vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks to enter the Hocking County Courthouse, 1 E. Main St., the Hocking County Board of Commissioners said on Thursday, May 20 after adopting new Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
The new protocol is in effect immediately, Board President Jeff Dickerson said. The eased mandate comes after the CDC announced on May 13 that fully vaccinated people can resume pre-pandemic activities, and do not need to wear a mask unless 1) it is mandated by a circumstantial rule or regulation 2) using public transportation 3) in a healthcare setting, such as a nursing home or hospital. Gov. Mike DeWine is also lifting most other COVID-19 mandates for the state effective June 2.
However, the CDC still advises people who are not vaccinated to continue taking precautions, such as mask wearing, social distancing, frequent hand-washing and testing.
According to the CDC, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of a two-dose series, like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, or two weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. According to May 23 data from the Ohio Department of Health, 35.47% of Hocking County’s population has started a COVID-19 vaccine, or 10,024 people.
The commissioners also said that it is a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) violation to ask individuals if they’re vaccinated; however, according to a fact check from usatoday.com, that is not exactly the case.
HIPAA prevents health care professionals, including medical and insurance providers, from sharing private health information without the patient’s permission. It does not prevent a private business, such as a restaurant, from asking the question and enforcing its own regulations. But individuals are under no legal obligation to disclose their vaccination status to a private business, either.
“If you don’t want to wear a mask and you’ve had your shots you do not have to have a mask on to enter or be in the courthouse,” Dickerson said. “If you would choose to wear a mask, you may do that as well.”
Each office in the courthouse is still allowed to make their own mask policies in their respective offices, the commissioners said. Commissioner Sandra Ogle, vaccinated, said that she will exercise her personal judgment when it comes to wearing a mask; she will don one when she feels one is needed.
The board also approved a letter request from the Hocking County Board of Elections to use the Hocking County Youth Center, 150 Homer Ave., as a polling location for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District special election primary on Aug. 3. It will also be a polling location for the special congressional general election on Nov. 1.
According to a previous report by The Logan Daily News, the deadline to register to vote for the August special election is July 6; the deadline for the November election is Oct. 4.
In April Republican Congressman Steve Stivers (OH-15) stepped down from his position, effective May 16. Ten Republicans, including Hocking County state representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), and two Democrats are running for Stivers’ former seat.
The next commissioners meeting will be Tuesday, May 25 at 9:30 a.m. in the commissioners chambers in the Hocking County Courthouse, 1 E. Main St. Meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the Hocking County Commissioners Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hockingcommissioners/.
