Approved Minutes of May 22, 2024

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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 22, 2024 o Two staff members — Bronson Brim, Public Health Nurse, and Amber Benner, Nutrition Program Manager—were recognized with the Orange County "I Have It!" Award. o Two staff members —Alex Rimmer, Environmental Health Supervisor, and Marcy Williams, Health Promotion and Education Services Manager—were recognized with the William Bill Smith Outstanding Public Health Award at the Eastern District North Carolina Public Health Association Conference. They were recognized for their work educating Orange County bars that serve food about the new licensing and inspection requirements. • Ms. Stewart shared a legislative update on House Bill 237, the Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Act. She explained that this is not a new bill, but a reinstatement of one from 1953 that aimed to curb membership to the Ku Klux Klan, which had been amended in 2020 to allow public medical mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Stewart added that support for the current bill is falling largely along party lines, and there is some strong opposition to prohibiting public use of medical masks. Dr. Pickett commented that some people are questioning if this law may serve as a violation to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and asked if Orange County had the option to allow masks for medical reasons, as counties are allowed to implement more strict regulations than the state for the sake of health. Dr. Stuebe replied that she was unsure if this would qualify as stricter since the purported basis of the law is to prevent felonies. Commissioner Fowler agreed, saying that the text of the law implies that a ban on medical masks would only be enforced if someone is committing a felony. Dr. Stuebe expressed concern about disproportionate enforcement targeted towards Black and brown people, which Dr. Rodgers echoed, saying that people who look like her may be harassed for"masking while Black." Dr. Pickett said that people who are sick won't wear masks if they're afraid of getting into trouble and Dr. Rodgers added that if masking isn't available then people who are immunocompromised may be forced back into total isolation, sharing an anecdote of a friend who is undergoing chemotherapy, and both wears a mask and avoids entering crowded public spaces. Dr. Royce mentioned that if the intent of resurrecting the bill is to target political protestors, then this seems like a danger to anyone engaging in any form of protest and may lead to their being physically harmed or arrested. Dr. Jonnal mentioned that the bill has been around for a long time without being abused, but that it seems more menacing now. Board members generally agreed that they didn't expect enforcement of the bill to be perfect. Ms. Stewart said that law enforcement in Orange County has historically been uninterested in enforcing anything to do with masks but that the bill could become problematic. She mentioned that there is the possibility that challenges to the bill will be related to ADA discrimination, and that the situation will need to be monitored. Dr. Rodgers added that it may come down to who specifically is doing the enforcing. Dr. Royce asked if Orange County could write their own version of the law, which Ms. Stewart expressed caution about, saying it would be important to work with law enforcement as it hurts the credibility of public health when there's a law that isn't enforced. In response to Dr. Crandell's question, Ms. Stewart clarified that Orange County cannot have Taxer regulation than the state laws or create exceptions to state laws unless permitted as a specific test case. Several board members who work in healthcare expressed that their patients mask for medical reasons, including in cancer hospitals and nursing homes. Commissioner S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agendas &Abstracts\2024 Agenda and Abstracts/ May Page 9