Cities in Delaware continue to weigh the use of mask and vaccine mandates.
And the state's capital is among them.
Dover is joining a few other cities in bringing back a mask mandate — in response to rising cases of Coronavirus.
This time, the mandate extends only to city owned buildings, such as city hall or the Dover Public Library.
Dover mayor Robin Christansen says protecting his citizens is his first priority.
“The only complaint that I have had is from a lady who apparently doesn’t understand my responsibilities as mayor — and she called me an effing Nazi. So if that’s the only one I get, you know, fine,” he said.
State officials continue urging people to get vaccinated, and Gov. John Carney implemented a vaccine mandate for state and health care workers.
Christiansen says a vaccine mandate in Dover isn’t worth infringing on the rights of city staff.
“If we have to, we certainly will sit down and re-evaluate the situation, not based on my personal beliefs, but what’s in the best interest of all of our employees and particularly also all of our citizens and families of employees,” Christansen said.
And right now, there’s no end date to the new mask mandate, Christansen says it’ll depend on what case numbers look like down the line, and what’s being recommended by the CDC.
Roman Battaglia is a corps member withReport for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
