St. Tammany elected officials unite to urge wearing of masks in public

Parish President Mike Cooper has teamed with mayors from around St. Tammany for a video in which they urge local residents to wear masks in public.  (Screengrab)

By Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

Generally speaking, it’s exceedingly difficult to get any nine St. Tammany Parish elected officials to agree on much. This week, however, just such a “unicorn moment” happened.

The impetus? An interest in public health – and no shortage of common sense.

In a video released online Friday (July 10), St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper united with the mayors of Abita Springs, Covington, Folsom, Madisonville, Mandeville, Pearl River, Slidell and Sun to urge local residents to follow the advice of public health experts – including those at St. Tammany Health System – and to wear face coverings in public to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“St. Tammany, we all want to keep our community healthy,” Cooper said in introducing the brief video. “We want to move forward. I need you to do your part so we don’t have to go back.”

From there, the mayors of St. Tammany – all of them wearing face coverings – urged viewers to “Slow the pace, cover your face.”

While Cooper has stopped short of issuing a parishwide mask mandate, he has strongly urged local residents to “mask up.”

According to public health officials, mask wearing – along with social distancing, hand hygiene and cough etiquette – are vital in stopping the spread of COVID-19, cases of which have recently surged in St. Tammany and statewide.

Watch the “Play it Safe, Cover Your Face” video below or at Vimeo.com.

Slow Your Pace St. Tammany from Access St. Tammany on Vimeo.