Macon Reporter

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe suggests residents wear face masks – even if they aren't worried about catching COVID-19.

Anyone could unknowingly be carrying the virus, she told the Herald & Review. Wearing a mask isn't about protecting yourself, but protecting others from a virus anyone could be carrying without knowing they have it. 

"You don’t know if you’re a carrier and you don’t know who you’re infecting. It’s not about you. It’s about others," Wolfe told NowDecatur's Byers & Co radio show.

While Wolfe is encouraging residents to wear masks to protect others, she did withdraw a proposed ordinance that have allowed police to enforce the wearing of masks, according to the Herald & Review. 

"It was more for the disruptive behavior, but you can get arrested for disruptive behavior anyway, especially if you get into an altercation and a fight," she said on the radio show.

She withdrew the proposal, because she said she is not trying to fine people for not wearing a mask, according to the newspaper. Instead, she wants Decatur residents to understand the importance of wearing masks. 

"Well, there was a lot of outcry from the public and (City) Council was inundated all day long with Facebook messages, emails, phone calls saying, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do this,’" she said on Byers & Co. "Frankly, there were not the votes there to pass it."

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is ordering all Illinois residents to wear a face mask when in public areas, but Wolfe told the Herald & Review she wouldn't be enforcing the order. 

"We can talk about, ‘Oh, it’s a dumb thing to do, not to wear a mask,’ or whatever — what it really is is selfish," Wolfe said on Byers & Co. "I know people don’t like to be told what to do but the outcry over some of this really is shocking to me."

Wolfe said she's asking residents to "be grown-ups about this." Asking, but not enforcing, residents to wear masks will help the city and state get through the pandemic, she said on the radio show. 

"What we’re asking the public to do is not that hard, it doesn’t hurt," she said. "Be a part of the solution. Don’t add to the problem."