Madison Co. health dept: Many complaints of restaurant employees wearing masks wrong

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Despite a statewide mask mandate, odds are you've seen people wearing a mask the wrong way.

Testing different types of face masks for effectiveness(wmbf)

Under the chin, hanging on an ear, or over the mouth but not the nose...

What can you do if that person is working in a restaurant?

Well the Madison County Public Health Department has received many complaints.

We reached out to the supervisor, Cheryl Clay.

She says restaurant employees do not have to wear a mask if they are not interacting with customers, but otherwise they need to have one on.

Clay tells us over the last few months they’ve had to suspend 15-20 permits.

Doing so suspends operations, but the restaurant can start operating again quickly once they correct the violation, whether that’s in the next 20 minutes or next few days.

“It’s more about them improperly wearing it, so you know below the nose or below the chin. I think we’ve gotten to the point that everyone is wearing the facial coverings, but sometimes they’re not wearing it properly,” Clay said.

Clay also wants to remind you, the county departments do not not handle complaints about customers not wearing masks, just the employees.

You’ll need to call a law enforcement non emergency line to do that.