There have been lots of new updates regarding masks in the last week. Couldn’t keep up or feel like you might have missed something? We’re breaking it all down for you in one place. 👇

Last Tuesday, Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order that essentially put an end to local mask mandates.

Gov. McMaster’s executive order overrides the City of Greenville’s mask mandate, making the local order invalid, so the city officially lifted their mask mandate. However, the city does still encourage citizens to follow social distancing guidelines from SCDHEC whenever possible.

The order also allows parents to opt out of having their children wear them in public schools. Greenville County Schools then released a mask opt-out form for parents. Since the opt out form has been released, 15% of Greenville County students have chosen to opt out of the mask requirement.

Then, late last week, the CDC declared that fully-vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks or socially-distance in most settings.

SCDHEC then followed up with a statement concurring with the CDC’s new guidelines, but also saying that “…people should still continue to wear masks when in schools, healthcare facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and on commercial transportation.”

The statement from SCDHEC also states that those who have not been fully vaccinated should continue to wear masks + socially distance themselves.

Because of the CDC’s new guidelines, Greenville County Schools announced that now employees can opt out of wearing masks as well.

TL;DR — Gov. McMaster ended local mask mandates, fully-vaccinated people now have the option to go maskless, but some businesses are still asking that patrons wear masks + private businesses still have the right to require people to wear them.

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