Utah counties consider implementing their own mask mandates after April 10th

Mar 19, 2021, 10:10 AM

FILE -- Leo Masic, Utah Transit Authority customer experience planner, sticks a sign on the door of a Utah Transit Authority bus at the Salt Lake Central Station in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The signs alert passengers that face masks must be worn in order to ride public transit. Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

BY MARY RICHARDS

Former Reporter

SALT LAKE CITY — It remains to be seen if any of the 29 counties in Utah will implement their own mask mandates after the statewide order goes away on April 10th.

Salt Lake County was the first county in the state to enact a mask order last June. Mayor Jenny Wilson said she’s worried about what will happen when the order expires.

Utah’s pandemic ‘endgame’ law says, if the state meets certain benchmarks of ICU numbers, cases, and vaccination doses, then public health orders go away.

“We are S.O.L in my opinion after the tenth of April,” Wilson told the County Council last week.

“We don’t have the ability to have a mask mandate for groups under ten, or everything is lifted when these three conditions are met,” she said.

The new law says the entire state needs a 14-day caseload of less than 191 per 100-thousand people, less than 15% ICU occupancy, and 1.63 million doses of vaccine delivered to the state.

Utah is already close to those thresholds.

Utah mask mandates

Mayor Wilson says she is worried about children, who aren’t getting vaccinated yet.

Dropping mask mandate in April is too soon, county mayor says

“I wouldn’t want to be a parent of a young child and have to make a choice of taking them into a grocery store and leaving them in a hot car, which we wouldn’t do. There’s some risk of going into a grocery store without mask mandates,” she said.

She made those comments to the council before several Utah grocery store chains said they would keep the mask requirements in place after April 10th.

Wilson also spoke to KSL’s Dave and Dujanovic recently and said she thought April tenth was too soon.

Summit and Grand Counties also had their own mask mandates last summer. Then-Governor Gary Herbert put in new statewide guidance in October and then a statewide mask mandate in November.

How To Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus

COVID-19 coronaviruses transmitted from person to person. It is a virus that is similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:

Wash hands frequently and thoroughly, with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds.
Wear a mask.
Don’t touch your face.
Keep children and those with compromised immune systems away from someone who is coughing or sneezing (in this instance, at least six feet)
If there is an outbreak near you, practice social distancing (stay at home, instead of going to the movies, sports events, or other activities.)
Get a flu shot.
Get vaccinated.