Madison County mask mandate to expire on Saturday

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department director Kim Tedford confirmed Wednesday during a weekly press conference update on COVID-19 that the county-wide mask mandate will be allowed to expire.

The mandate is currently set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday.

Tedford says after the mandate expires, mask requirements in businesses will be left up to each individual business owner.

As a reminder, many chain stores such as Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger and others require all customers and employees to wear face coverings in stores nationwide.

Tedford says if confirmed COVID-19 cases begin to rise again, it is possible the county and health department will put a mask mandate back in place.

Masks or face coverings will still be required to enter all venues owned and operated by the City of Jackson, and visitors to these buildings will continue to be screened with temperature checks.

All patrons and vendors at the West Tennessee Farmers’ Market will continue to be required to wear face coverings or masks.

We’ll have more on this story coming up at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.