SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said she has not yet decided whether to seek a new mask mandate if the COVID-19 “final” bill is signed by the governor and the mask mandate throughout the state is revoked on April 10.
“TBD,” she said in response to a question from FOX 13 at a news conference on Wednesday. “Let’s wait and see.”
Since the COVID-19 vaccines were open to all Utahns over the age of 16, Mayor Wilson recommended that people still wear masks in public until health experts say it is safe to remove them and when the state reaches immunity through vaccination.
“As long as there is light at the end of the tunnel, we need help from the community,” said the mayor.
Salt Lake County Council President Steve DeBry told FOX 13 that he intends to convene a special council meeting on April 9 – the day before the mask’s term is dropped from the “end of the game” bill – to decide whether a new masking mandate is needed based on the most recent data.
“If the references are met, then it is a moot point for the council and there will be no more masks,” he said. “However, if one of the three or two of the three is not, then it is up to the Salt Lake County Council to determine.”
Governor Spencer Cox signed the bill, although he criticized it. He negotiated the April 10 date to end the statewide term of the mask with members of the Utah State Legislature, some of whom wanted to get it up immediately. The project, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, raises other health restrictions as vaccination rates increase and cases decrease. But it does allow local legislative bodies to pursue their own masked mandates. Private companies can also implement their own mask requirements for customers and employees.
Council chairman DeBry said it was not yet known whether Utah’s most populous county would remain under a secret mandate. Salt Lake County was one of the first to adopt one last year, well before then-governor Gary Herbert, who implemented a state mandate in November.
“We don’t want to see people dying,” DeBry told FOX 13. “And we need to protect vulnerable people.”
He was also concerned with the variants, the resurgence of the virus and how long the COVID-19 vaccine would last before people needed a booster injection. DeBry has encouraged the county to start preparing for change now – to avoid a return to drastic health restrictions.
“We are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but my concern is for the long term. It will still be out there somewhere,” he said of the virus. “What do we have to do to stay on top of this so we don’t go back to this vortex last year?”
The Salt Lake County Health Department urged Utahns not to wait to receive his injection. Department of Health Director Gary Edwards said the mass vaccination clinics the county set up serve about 30,000 people a week.
“We are prepared to do more than that, even twice as much,” he said, adding that it was based on the availability of dosage that comes from the federal government.
Edwards encouraged people to sign up for consultations. As of Wednesday, the Salt Lake County Health Department had about 17,000 vacancies open by the end of April. He also pleaded with people not to make “vaccine purchases”, where they made an appointment and looked for another one that was more convenient or tried to get a particular brand of vaccine. In some cases, up to 600 appointments have been scheduled twice, leaving others blocked.
“There are 600 people who could have been vaccinated, but were not. This is the problem that this creates, ”warned Edwards.