MURFREESBORO — On Monday, Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron joined 10 other Tennessee counties and issued a mandate requiring all citizens and visitors to wear mask “when social distancing is not possible.”

Previously Sullivan, Knox, Hamilton, Davidson, Madison, and Shelby counties (those with independent health departments) had the authority to issue mask mandates. Prior to the July 4 weekend, Governor Bill Lee issued an executive order allowing local mayors and metro executives to do the same.

Since then, Rutherford, Wilson, Sevier, Davidson, Robertson, Sumner, Williamson, Knox, Shelby, Madison, and Hamilton counties have all issued their own mask mandates.

“We received a lot of support from our local businesses including some of our big box stores,” Mayor Ketron stated in a press release. “But the reality is, some of our citizens and visitors just are not taking this health event seriously enough.”

Students at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro will also be required to wear face masks on campus this fall, according to their website.

“If you want to be on campus, if you want the university to continue to stay open, you need to do these things: You need to wear a mask. You have to wash your hands. You need to do the things that the CDC and our local and state health officials ask you to do,” said President Sidney A. McPhee in a CSPAN interview on Friday. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}