By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges is hopeful that people will self-enforce the wearing of face masks in public places. Governor Kelly issued the face mask mandate, effective this Friday.
JC Post contacted Berges for local reaction. "You can't have law enforcement officers out there 24-hours a day doing nothing but trying to enforce that. We hope people will wear a mask when they're out in public and going into buildings, anyplace where they can't maintain the social distancing. "
Berges noted that it will be hard this upcoming holiday weekend with activities occurring both in Junction City and around Milford Lake. "People need to realize that we need to put a stop to this or we could go back to total shutdown. "
The face mask mandate is in response to the spread of COVID-19. Since the pandemic began there have been 47 positive cases involving Geary County residents, but no one is hospitalized at the present time. There has been one fatality.