Gov. Ivey extends statewide mask order to November 8

On September 30th, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued an amended Safer at Home Order, including a statewide mask requirement. The extended order will last until Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 5:00PM. Here’s what you need to know.

Mask Mandate Extended

As we reported in July, Gov. Kay Ivey announced that Alabama will enforce a statewide mandatory mask order. The order came on the heels of an alarming wave of COVID-19 cases in early July.

Under the mask mandate, Alabamians are required to wear a mask or facial covering that covers the mouth and nose in public when within six feet of people from a different household, with a few exceptions.

Joined by Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, Gov. Ivey announced today that Alabama will be extending the mask mandate until Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 5:00PM.

View Gov. Ivey’s proclamation here.

“The fact is, our mask order that we imposed on July 16th, is working and the numbers speak for themselves. Hospitalizations are decreasing, the number of new cases each day has been consistently dropping since Dr. Harris and I implemented the mask order.”

Gov. Kay Ivey, speaking at a press conference in Montgomery on Sept. 30

Safer at Home Order Guidelines

As we’ve seen in the past few months, the Safer at Home Order requires Alabamians to wear masks or some sort of covering over their nose and mouth in several situations, when:

• Within 6 feet of people from another household in indoor spaces open to the public
• In a vehicle operated by a transportation service
• In an outdoor space where 10 or more people are gathered.

There are some exceptions to the mask mandate. For example, masks are not required for children under the age of six, persons with medical conditions that prohibit the use of a mask, persons drinking or eating food while seated at a restaurant and persons exercising. And although strongly encourage by the State, masks are not required while voting.

Click here to view the order for a complete list of guidelines and exceptions.

Changes to the Mask Mandate

Effective October 2nd, nursing homes and other long-term-care living facilities will be allowed to admit outsiders to visit loved ones. Each patient or resident will be allowed to have one visitor at a time.

“To the residents and loved ones caring for someone in a long-term living facility, I truly recognize it’s been a long, hard year. Today we are announcing changes to allow loved ones to be reunited safely in these facilities across the state … Each patient and each resident is allowed one caregiver or one visitor with them at a time unless there are compelling reasons to limit access.”

Gov. Kay Ivey

Mask Up & Stay Safe, Birmingham

As of September 30th, Alabama has had 155K cases of COVID-19. Gov. Ivey and Dr. Scott Harris noted that, since the original statewide mask mandate in July, Alabama’s number of daily new cases has continued to decline. However, we’re not ready to go back to normal just yet.

“As much as we’d like to get back to normal, I’d hate to see us pull back too quickly and lose the progress that we’ve made in our daily positive rates by risking another spike due to a false sense of security.”

Gov. Kay Ivey

How do you feel about the extended mask mandate? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know your thoughts.