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Madison County officials hopeful mask ordinance will be effective

"Somewhere between 2-3 weeks from now if people adhere to the new rules, I think we will see this level off," said Huntsville Hospital CEO, David Spillers.

"On July 1st we had 1,057 positive cases of COVID-19 in this area," said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. "Today we're looking at 2,535. That's a 150% increase."

Huntsville Hospital CEO, David Spillers said they're seeing some of their oldest and youngest patients yet.

"The oldest patient we have today is 101. The youngest we have is 5 weeks old. So we are still seeing a wide age range of patients," said Spillers. 

In an attempt to lower the number of positive cases, a new masking ordinance has been in effect for almost a week. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said he is actively making sure everyone is following the guidelines.

"Over the weekend Madison Mayor Paul Finley was monitoring, I was out monitoring some in the Huntsville area. I think what we've seen so far is people are taking it seriously. They're taking it serious enough that they are wearing masks." said Battle.

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Spillers said he's hopeful we'll see the numbers start to decline with the new masking ordinance but it may take a couple of weeks.

"I think it's going to take a while for the masking policy to make an impact because we didn't have masking for fourth of July so we expect an increase in cases for the next couple of weeks. But somewhere between 2-3 weeks from now if people adhere to the new rules, I think we will see this level off."

As people hit the polls tomorrow, Mayor Battle said they're getting plans in place to keep everyone as safe as possible. 

"Tomorrow is voting day, and on voting day everybody should wear a mask as they come in. The probate judge has already said they he will have masks there for anyone who needs them; for people who come in and don't have one."

IN OTHER NEWS: Huntsville locals express concerns for mandatory mask order

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