Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday lifted restrictions on coronavirus that had been in place in the state since before Thanksgiving.
The Republican’s most recent health proclamation will not require Iowa residents to wear masks while inside public buildings and removes the limits for indoor and outdoor meetings.
“I strongly encourage all companies or other employers who remain open with face-to-face operations to take reasonable measures in the circumstances of each establishment to ensure the health of employees, patrons and members of the public, including practices of social detachment, increased practices of hygiene and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, “said the proclamation, according to KCCI-TV in Des Moines.
The order takes effect at midnight on Sunday.
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Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, praised the request, which dispenses with requirements for social distance in restaurants and bars.
“Frankly, it allows us to get back to doing business at a really critical time,” she said, according to the Des Moines Register. “We are … the day before the Super Bowl, which opens up a lot of business for the crowds to come in and watch the big game safely.”
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds speaks in Davenport, Iowa, October 31, 2020. (Getty Images)
But Lina Tucker Reinders, executive director of the Iowa Public Health Association, said she thinks the restrictions are being lifted very early.
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“I don’t think it’s a good idea, to be honest,” she said, according to the Register. “We are not yet out of the pandemic.”
Congresswoman Cindy Axne, Iowa’s only US Democratic congresswoman, called the decision “short-sighted, poorly conceived and dangerous.”
In Des Moines, Mayor Frank Cownie said the city’s mask law would remain in effect, KCCI reported.
“For me, the science has been very clear. When you see a spread like we see in Iowa and Polk County, we need to be more diligent,” Cownie told the station.
The governor’s ease with restrictions comes as the number of new cases and hospitalizations decreases since the state’s peak around the holidays.
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Still, the state has exceeded 5,000 deaths and at least three cases of a new UK variant that is considered more contagious have been confirmed, according to the Des Moines Register and NPR.
The state has also struggled to launch the vaccine and is ranked the third worst – ahead of Idaho and Missouri – in per capita distribution, Reynolds said, according to the Register.
“We have an average of about 60% in vaccine administration and that is not where we need to be,” Reynolds told a news conference last week, KCCI said. “We want to do better. We know that we can do better.”