While Monday marked the first day of the reinstated mask mandate in the St. Louis region, one of the first areas in the nation to do so, local leaders faced considerable resistance from the St. Louis County Council and Eric Schmitt, attorney general of Missouri.
The mask mandate came as Missouri’s case average reached a 6-month high and was the second highest in the country.
Schmitt filed suit Monday to strike down the restriction, arguing that it “is unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, unconstitutional, and unlawful.”
“Today, my office filed suit against St. Louis City and County for reimposing their mask mandate on the citizens of St. Louis. This continued government overreach is unacceptable and unconstitutional, especially in the face of a widely available vaccine. There is absolutely no scientific reason to continue to force children to wear a mask in school,” Schmitt wrote on his website.
St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page addressed the lawsuit Thursday morning, as well as the fact that the St. Louis County Council voted 5-2 this week to end the public health order and admonish Page for failing to consult them before issuing the mandate, arguing that it’s a requirement under a new state law.
“I want to make it clear that a mask mandate remains in place in St. Louis County.” — St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page
The new Missouri state law was signed by Gov. Mike Parson in mid-June. The law, according to St. Louis Public Radio, states that Missouri counties and towns will only be able to issue public health orders that restrict access to businesses, churches and schools for 30 days when the governor declares a public health emergency. Without it, they can impose restrictions for 21 days and local officials can only extend those orders if the local legislative body approves.
“I want to make it clear that a mask mandate remains in place in St. Louis County,” Page said Thursday, later addressing the political rhetoric that he believes is intended to undermine prevention strategies.
Despite the vote and lawsuit, Page said the mask mandate should be dealt with in court — where he says previous health orders have prevailed.
“We do have some folks in our country who work very hard to undermine public health efforts with a lot of inflammatory public rhetoric,” he said. “I’m not going to engage in that, I am going to focus on relaying the decisions that are made in our public health department.”
Councilwoman Lisa Clancy and Kelli Dunaway were the two council members who voted in favor of continuing the mandate.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones addressed Schmitt’s lawsuit through a statement from her spokesman
“Missourians have sadly become accustomed to the Attorney General using their tax dollars to further his own political ambitions at the expense of the public’s health and well being,” Nick Dunne wrote. “We look forward to this frivolous lawsuit failing like so many of his others.”
Jones on Tuesday also announced new vaccination incentives for nearly 6,000 city civil service employees including $100 in gift cards and paid time off to go get vaccinated.
“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 remains the best way for St. Louisans to protect their families and greatly reduce their chance of ending up in the ICU, and we are using many different tools in our toolbox to encourage vaccination,” Jones wrote.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention entered the public dialogue Thursday by updating the agency’s recommendation for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of “substantial or high transmission.”
The agency also said fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission and that fully vaccinated people who have a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure.
In addition, universal indoor masking is recommended for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.
The St. Louis region’s mandate stipulates that all individuals over the age of five wear masks in indoor public settings unless eating or drinking. Some other exceptions do apply.
Jones and Page reinstated the mandate because vaccination rates are not high enough to combat the fast spread of the new Delta variant, creating a flood of new cases that will overwhelm the healthcare system.
Throughout the state, 41% of the population was fully vaccinated as of Tuesday. This compares to an estimated 45.2% fully vaccinated rate in the county and 35.6% in the city.
The CDC reported that 49.2% of the nation’s population is fully vaccinated and Jones noted that the agency on Monday was considering issuing mask guidance given the variant and vaccination levels.
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