Masks and social distancing are no longer required in Gwinnett County buildings, and hazard pay that had gone to frontline employees in the county is also ending.
In a Thursday letter to employees, County Administrator Glenn Stephens said the county chairwoman, Nicole Love Hendrickson, would eliminate masking requirements as of last Friday.
He also said hazard pay that went to workers who put themselves at risk of catching the virus will be eliminated since the county is moving to a “recovery phase with consistently lower case rates and readily available, highly effective vaccines.”
The hazard pay will be reduced by 50% starting Saturday, then eliminated as of June 11.
“With these changes, we’re taking one step closer to a normal Gwinnett,” Stephens wrote.
Additionally, special leave will no longer be available for COVID-19 related illnesses, beginning Saturday. Employees will have to use their own leave if they become infected.
The letter also urges employees to wear a mask and continue to distance if they are not vaccinated; provides information on vaccine appointments including county incentives for vaccination; and asks employees to be courteous to coworkers, whether they wear a mask or not.
The changes come after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks in most indoor or outdoor settings.
The county is not checking whether people are vaccinated. In Gwinnett, 30% of all residents are fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Public Health, while 37% of residents have had at least one vaccine dose.
As of Sunday, there had been 518 new cases of COVID-19 in Gwinnett in the last two weeks, according to DPH data. More than 102,000 cases have been diagnosed in Gwinnett since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and more than 1,000 people in Gwinnett have died.
Hendrickson’s latest order rescinds the emergency order that was first signed by her predecessor in March 2020, and renewed regularly until this month.
In it, she says people who enter county facilities “are strongly encouraged to remain vigilant” about the pandemic and to follow CDC guidance.
Jurors will still be asked to mask in jury assembly rooms; judges can make their own determinations about masking.
The county order does not apply to the school system, which still has a mask mandate in place.
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