Face masks now required in Pulaski County

WINAMAC, Ind. -- After a spike in COVID-19 cases in neighboring counties, the Pulaski County Board of Commissioners held an emergency meeting Thursday to implement a new ordinance that will require everyone in the county to wear a mask inside any public place, effective Friday, May 1.

Pulaski County’s Incident Management Team made the recommendation after a surge in positive cases in Cass and White counties, as well as in response to a spike in Pulaski County – where COVID-19 cases jumped from one to 23 in two weeks.

Officials understand it’s inconvenient to wear a mask – but say it has to be done to save lives.

“We are trying to ensure that people are protected – protecting themselves, protecting their loved ones and their neighbors – we know it’s frustrating, it’s irritating to wear the masks so frequently. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure that there are as many people living in Pulaski County after this ends as there were when this started,” said Nathan Origer, Executive Director of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission.

Although officials didn’t discuss any criminal penalty for not wearing masks, if people don’t wear one inside a public place, they will be asked to leave.

“We’re trying to save lives of people in Pulaski County. We’re doing this as a precautionary measure to save our public,” said Kenneth Becker, President of Pulaski County Board of Commissioners. “We’ve got a lot more cases bursting out since Cass County has come up with theirs. Cass County and White County have implemented wearing face masks in all business, going in and out of the businesses. We’ve done it to protect our people.”

The ordinance lasts indefinitely – county officials say they will rescind it when the appropriate time comes.