Businesses Must Choose Either Masks or Vaccinations – Not Both

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Oxford businesses must choose whether to require all customers to wear masks or only allow customers and employees inside who are fully vaccinated.

The city of Oxford posted the clarification to the mask mandate adopted by the Board of Aldermen Wednesday during a special meeting on its social media websites Thursday.

“We have received many questions in our office today about the mask mandate,” the city stated online.

The resolution states that a business has a choice to either require all patrons and employees to wear an appropriate face covering, covering both the mouth and nose or only allow customers and employees who are fully vaccinated.

It is not permissible to allow customers who show a vaccination card to enter without wearing a mask and to allow unvaccinated individuals into the business while wearing a mask.

Last week The Lyric and Proud Larry’s announced they would be requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test result for all ticketed shows.

The University of Mississippi, being located outside the city limits in Lafayette County, has not yet announced whether masks will be required at upcoming football games or in the Grove. Currently, masks are only required on campus when people are indoors.

The mask mandate was originally approved Tuesday and updated on Wednesday in response to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi reporting it was operating at max capacity and issued an internal disaster declaration.