Cuyahoga County Council's mask ordinance tabled after Gov. DeWine's mandate

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Should masks be mandatory throughout all of Cuyahoga County?

That point was set to be considered by the county council on Tuesday, but essentially became moot thanks to Gov. Mike DeWine's mandate that seven counties in Ohio, including Cuyahoga, wear masks in public.

RELATED: Gov. Mike DeWine issues order mandating masks 7 Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga, Huron and Trumbull

The council read the proposed ordinance into the record, but stated they will not do anything other than refer it to a committee until they read DeWine's full order. 

RELATED: Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish lays out plan for requiring face coverings in the county

The seven counties selected come as a result of the state's tracking of its coronavirus numbers and a system it has adopted to assess the severity of its spread. The seven counties selected for the order are the counties currently in at the red level of the system, which is the second most severe behind purple. Any county that advances to the red level will be added to the order, while a reduction to Level 2 (orange) will drop the county from the order.

"Level 3" or red level in the state's new color-coded coronavirus alert system means there's "very high exposure and spread" and activities should be limited as much as possible to contain potential infection. The highest level in the alert system, which indicates "severe exposure and spread." At that point, residents are asked to only leave home for supplies and services. 

No Ohio counties are currently at that level.

The seven counties at Level 3 and will be required to wear masks are Cuyahoga, Huron, Trumbull, Franklin, Montgomery, Butler and Hamilton.

Cleveland and Beachwood have issued mask mandates in recent days. 

“If we want to be able to go out and live our lives, this mask is a symbol of freedom," Gov. DeWine said last week.

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• RELATED: Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson signs order mandating use of masks throughout city
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