Another Midlands town requires you to now wear a mask. Here are the details

The town of Arcadia Lakes in Richland County passed an emergency ordinance Tuesday requiring most people to wear masks in most indoor spaces.

The ordinance mandates that masks be worn by people 11 years old and older inside most commercial and government buildings, according to the ordinance. Employees of businesses are required to wear masks while working. People don’t have to wear masks inside churches but the town is encouraging people to. People also don’t have to wear masks in restaurants while seated.

Businesses will not have to enforce the mask rule for patrons but have to post a sign saying masks are required to enter, according to the ordinance.

People not wearing masks where required could be fined $25 and businesses not requiring their employees to wear masks could be fined $100.

Arcadia Lakes Mayor Mark Huguley put out a statement Thursday explaining the ordinance to town residents.

Cayce, Columbia, Richland County and West Columbia have all passed similar ordinances.

The ordinances were put in place as a resurgence of the coronavirus took hold in South Carolina. Since June, the state has had thousands of new COVID-19 cases reported each week. Last week, more people were hospitalized across the state because of COVID than at any point. Wednesday, state health officials reported 138 deaths from the virus, one of the highest numbers of deaths reported in a day.

Richland County has about 1,014 cases of COVID per 100,000 residents, according to the county, which puts it in health officials’ highest tier of infection rate. More than 200 cases per 100,000 is considered a high rate. About 52% of Richland County’s eligible residents are fully vaccinated, the county said.

Arcadia Lakes is small town mainly along Trenholm Road between Decker Boulevard and Two Notch Road. It borders Forest Acres.