Marietta, GA | December 22, 2021 - Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has signed a new Declaration of Emergency for the county after consulting with public health officials about the dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases.  The declaration will enable the county to implement its Emergency Operations Plan, hold all or portions of public meetings virtually, and encourage residents to take precautions to avoid further spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.

“Public Health officials warn me this variant is spreading at an alarming rate,” Chairwoman Cupid said.  “The stress on our hospitals is increasing, and both public and private COVID testing facilities are overwhelmed.  Even though this is just prior to Christmas, I wanted to act quickly to help slow the spread of this new variant in our community.”

The declaration urges residents to help slow the spread by taking these actions: getting vaccinated and/or boosted, wearing masks indoors with others, and avoiding crowded situations.

At the same time, County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris will again require the wearing of masks inside county government facilities.  This reinstitutes a policy that lapsed in November.

“Much like the community, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases within the Cobb government family,” said Dr. McMorris.  “Requiring the wearing of masks and increasing social distancing in our facilities will hopefully help protect both our employees and the residents that they serve.”

The policy will require masks to be worn while inside Cobb government buildings including libraries, indoor parks facilities, and senior centers.  This policy does NOT affect:

Privately-run businesses in the county,

The Cobb County School District which is governed by the Board of Education, and;

The Cobb County court complex, which has been under its own mask mandate by judicial order.

Chairwoman Cupid had initially signed a Declaration of Emergency over the spread of COVID-19 in Cobb County in August and signed two extensions that kept the declaration in place until mid-November.  This current declaration will run through January 23, 2022.+