MISSOULA – The mask’s mandate in Missoula County will remain in effect.
The announcement came after Governor Greg Gianforte announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing the mandate from the state mask on Friday.
A social media post from the Missoula County Department of Health states that “when science suggests it is safe to revoke the mask’s mandate, Missoula County will do it, but that is not the time now.”
The MCCHD issued a statement Thursday morning stating that “at this time, there are no plans to remove the Missoula County mask mandate. Health officials will continue to allow science to guide the critical decisions they make during this crisis. health.”
Local public health officials are emphasizing that science suggests that wearing a mask is essential to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The MCCHD notes that the Harvard Global Health Institute reports that the COVID-19 risk level in Montana and Missoula County is “in the orange zone. This means that we are still close to the red zone, which is considered an inflection point for the uncontrollable spread of the virus. “
“Missoula County has been a leader in responding to this virus and has continuously reported lower COVID-19 case counts than other major Montana counties during this pandemic due to our COVID19 mitigation efforts,” said Hayley Devlin, MCCHD public information officer.
“We want to thank the residents of Missoula County for their hard work and sacrifice in working with us to make this possible,” concludes the press release.
Click here to read the full statement from the Missoula City Health Department.
The information below is from the COVID-19 information site in Missoula City-County:
In Missoula County, COVID-19 mitigation requirements generally include:
- Facial coverings required in public indoor spaces for over 5 years.
- Facial coverage requirement for outdoor meetings of more than 25 people.
- Guidance for companies, government offices, non-profit organizations, meeting places and places of worship.
- Guidelines for events.
If there is no statewide masking mandate, Missoula County’s masking mandate will remain valid and enforceable in Missoula County.