GREENSBORO, N.C. — You asked and 2 Wants To Know is getting answers. Barbara is one of several people who had questions about an event last weekend at the Greensboro Coliseum.
"Just wanted to get some clarity. I noticed that at least half of the people there were maskless. I thought the coliseum would be under the mask mandate. If so, no one was enforcing it. We left early because of that," she wrote.
According to the coliseum website, "in conjunction with the Guilford County Board of Health's recent mandate, masks are required to be worn indoors."
Even Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan had questions about the lack of masks.
"The Holiday Market is one of my favorite events of the year, and it really was pretty unmasked. When I got back, I called the coliseum manager and the city manager to talk about enforcement," Mayor Vaughan said.
She said coliseum staff told her they would reach out to event organizers and remind them of the mask mandate. Social media shows this has happened at other coliseum events.
"Cool to have a mask policy, but I'm in the minority actually wearing a mask at the J. Cole concert right now," one man tweeted.
A woman also posted on Twitter that she "did not mask and no one cared."
"Some of it, I think, is an issue of manpower," Vaughan said. "People go in with masks and then take them off. Everybody is stretched. You hear about job openings, and we certainly have our job openings, too. So while people come in with a mask, they have a tendency to take them off. I would ask people to follow the masking order that's in place. I understand it's not fun. With luck, our numbers are continuing to trend down. The county commissioners will probably lift it next week."
County commissioners have also said, in order to get to the point where they can do away with that mask mandate, we all have to do our part now to slow the spread. That means following the indoor mask mandate.
Vaughn said the Guilford County Health Department has not traced the spread of COVID-19 back to any city buildings, like the coliseum or the Steven Tanger Center. We've reached out to the health department to confirm that. We're waiting to hear back.
Andrew Brown with the Greensboro Coliseum says:
"In accordance with the Guilford County mandate, masks are required for all indoor events at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and Tanger Center. The mask requirement – in addition to other health and safety protocols in place – are detailed on both venue websites and promoted on official social media platforms.
Masks are required for entry for all events. We will continue to reiterate with our event staff regarding enforcement of the mask mandate throughout the entire event."