Mayor John Cranley has announced that all Kroger stores within the City of Cincinnati will now be passing out free masks to shoppers — one per person — when you walk in the door.
“I appreciate the leadership of Kroger to provide free masks at the point of entry, so if you forget your mask, you can get one for free,” Cranley said. “And we hope people will take advantage of that.”
He said the grocer has about 200,000 masks to distribute. Masks are available starting today.
“This includes the store on Paxton in Hyde Park; Vine Street — I think in Hartwell; Kenard, off of Mitchell, down in the Clifton, Camp Washington area; Ferguson Road in Westwood; the Mt. Washington store on Beechmont; the Oakley store on Marburg; the Price Hill store on Warsaw Avenue; the new downtown store on Court Street; the Corryville store; and the Glenway Avenue store out in Western Hills,” he said.
He said stores that are not within city limits are not currently passing out masks.
According to Cincinnati Health Commissioner Melba Moore, the city had 101 confirmed new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
“The number of positive cases in our region is going in the wrong direction,” Cranley tweeted about his reason for today’s press briefing, which also introduced the concept of a mandatory mask ordinance for the city.
On Friday, Cincinnati City Council will discuss and vote on an ordinance to require the use of masks in public places, similar to the one just unanimously passed by the Dayton City Commission.
“I support an ordinance, properly constructed, to require mask wearing,” Cranley said. “Masks are our best hope to keep the economy afloat and to keep people safe.”
He said the ordinances being drafted are modeled after Dayton’s law, which specifically focuses on mandated mask use in indoor businesses. Dayton’s ordinance includes a list of situations in which mask wearing is not required, like when you’re seated at a restaurant or bar eating or drinking or when you’re in your own private office. (You can read the full Dayton ordinance at daytonohio.gov.)
“This is not a ban or a requirement to wear a mask if you’re out walking, if you’re in a park, if you’re in a rec center exercising — there are explicit exceptions for that in the ordinance. This is a requirement that you wear a mask when you’re at a public accommodation or business location in close proximity to others,” Cranley said.
This article appears in The Summer Guide.