The mask order ends this Sunday.
Just days after St. Louis County dropped its mask mandate, St. Louis City is following suit.
St. Louis City’s current mask mandate expires on March 5 at 11:59 p.m. and the Health Department will not ask the Board of Alderman to renew the order.
The Department of Health cites new CDC guidance and the current lower percent positivity rate in the St. Louis region as the reason why they’re letting the mask mandate lapse instead of asking for an extension.
“The policies we have implemented - from masking to a vaccine and testing requirement for city workers - has helped save lives in our city,” said Mayor Tishaura Jones. “St. Louisans worked together to move key metrics, like hospitalization rates and new case counts, in the right direction, but we have to keep protecting each other; testing, handwashing, staying home when sick, as well as vaccination and boosting remain critical tools to help to protect our families and communities. I encourage St. Louisans to respect the personal choice of those who continue wearing masks in public spaces, and if you have not yet been vaccinated or boosted, make sure you do so as soon as you can.”
Though there is no current mask order as of next week, the Department of Health says that it is “highly recommending members of the population continue to wear masks indoors especially if in high risk groups, such as the elderly, individuals in congregate living facilities, people with pre-existing medical conditions, the immunocompromised, children below the age of 5 that are not eligible for vaccination, and children who are not eligible for boosters.”
As of yesterday, St. Louis City has recorded 45,186 cases of COVID-19 and 739 deaths from COVID-19. Private businesses and spaces are still allowed to require masking on their property.
Email the author at jaime.lees@riverfronttimes.com
