SALT LAKE CITY – The mayor of Salt Lake City, Erin Mendenhall, and the mayor of Salt Lake County, Jenny Wilson, have not ruled out the enactment of their own mask mandates across the city or county after the mask mandate across the state expires on April 10.
But depending on whether Utah still reaches certain benchmarks related to COVID-19 case rates, hospitalization fees or vaccination quotas, they may not have the power to do so under the pandemic “game over” bill of the Utah Legislature. Governor Spencer Cox signaled support for the bill after negotiating the statewide suspension of the mask’s term of office on April 10, gaining a few more weeks with lawmakers initially positioned to approve the bill with an immediate effective date and a proof majority veto.
Mendenhall and Wilson, Democratic mayors of Utah’s most populous city and county, do not support the April 10 end date. While they are supporting companies that are keeping their mask requirements in place until epidemiologists say it is safe not to do so anymore, they are still evaluating their own options for keeping local mask mandates in place.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22383901/merlin_2859656.jpg)
Both mayors told Deseret News on Friday that they have not ruled out issuing potential mask mandates in Salt Lake City or Salt Lake County. They said their lawyers are still reviewing HB294, which Cox has not yet signed, and whether it would prohibit city or county mayors from issuing their own mandates if the state still did not meet the COVID-19 benchmarks to lift all restrictions. until april 10
New emergency orders would also be subject to approval by the city or town council after 30 days under a different bill also approved by the Utah Legislature limiting emergency executive powers.
“Our lawyers are evaluating this,” said Mendenhall. “Hopefully, we will not be faced with the need to place a local mandate, but it is an option that I will keep on the table.”
Mendenhall said the decision will be based on data from COVID-19. “We hope to continue to see the decline that we have seen. But we will rely on local data to make that decision. ”
“We are currently reviewing the options,” assuming Cox subscribes to HB294, Wilson told Deseret News in a text message on Friday. However, she said, “The most likely route is approval from the County Council, if the health department recommends it. We are currently working on these options and awaiting project approval ”.
The Salt Lake County Council is currently in control of a veto-proof majority of the Republican Party.
Under HB294, once the state of Utah reaches a two-week COVID-19 case rate of less than 191 per 100,000, less than 15% of the beds in the intensive care unit are occupied by COVID-19 patients, and once that the state receives – but does not administer – at least 1.63 million vaccinations, so all orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic are closed, at the state and local level.
While the mask’s mandate is due to be suspended on April 10, other restrictions, including mask requirements for schools and meetings greater than 50, will remain in effect until the COVID-19 benchmarks are met.
Mendenhall said the April 10 date deviates from data-based decisions.
“The evolution of the way the state has handled COVID restrictions and different levels over the past year has improved over time and, in so doing, has moved away from political decisions and instead anchored them to the pandemic data ”Said Mendenhall. “This April 10 decision appears to be a step away from that database integrity metric approach.”
Wilson, at a Salt Lake County Council meeting last week, expressed serious concerns about HB294, concerned about the obstacles it will put in place for local masking mandates if the state meets the standards listed in the bill.
“We are SOL, in my opinion, after April 10,” Wilson said to the board. “I am concerned about our children. They will not be vaccinated until the end of the year. ”
In conversations with Salt Lake County Health Department director Gary Edwards, Wilson said it is possible that the state will already meet these three benchmarks by April 10 anyway.
“Probably around that time or at the end of April, if we continue to track declining rates,” said Wilson. “So I have serious concerns about passing this bill and what it might mean.”
On Friday, state officials calculated the state to be around 233.8 cases per 100,000 in 14 days, approaching the required rate of 191 cases for the demands to be lifted. The state already meets the rate of use of ICU beds, with an estimate of 12% occupied with COVID-19 patients. And the state has also surpassed the mark of 1 million vaccines administered.
Salt Lake City companies meet the mask requirement
Meanwhile, Mendenhall urged Utahns to continue wearing masks.
“Although our COVID-19 numbers have dropped and have continued to drop significantly in recent months, the use of a mask is still vital. We are not done yet, ”said Mendenhall.
Her statements were made during a press conference that she and several local Salt Lake City business owners held on Friday at the Santo Taco West Taco Restaurant, 910 N. 900 West, to urge Salt Lake City customers to continue wearing masks after April 10 and respect the businesses that chose to demand them.
“I am very grateful to companies that are choosing to ask employees and customers to continue wearing masks, even after the state mask’s term expires on April 10,” said Mendenhall. “We want the good news to continue to arrive. And part of that depends on whether our businesses and residents continue to take precautions and wear masks until we are completely out of harm’s way. “
The mayor announced that she is “asking Salt Lake City companies to join us today, committing to continue to demand masks at their establishments until our health experts say it is safe to remove them.”
Mendenhall considered Wilson’s Salt Lake County mask order “an incredible resource for consumer confidence” in Utah’s most populous county. She gave credit for helping Salt Lake County residents and buyers “feel more comfortable. We have often heard that customers at Salt Lake City companies felt safe knowing that Salt Lake City companies were demanding and enforcing this masked mandate. ”
“Not only did it slow the spread of the virus, it saved lives,” said Mendenhall. “And it is still today. Masks have been good for business. And I don’t want to see that progress destroyed before we reach the end. ”
The local business owners of Santo Taco in Salt Lake, the Break Bread barbershop, Publik Coffee and the president of the supermarket chain Harmons in Utah have encouraged their customers to continue wearing masks.
“Publik is asking the community to continue wearing his mask beyond the April 10 mandate waiver,” said Publik owner Missy Greis. “We also ask for the kindness and grace of people when interacting with industry employees and with each other.”
Break Bread owner Ricky Arriola said, “We want to make sure that the momentum we’re seeing doesn’t stop,” so your barbershop will also require masks after April 10.
“We will do our part,” he said. “As long as we’re working on it together, we’ll see beyond that.”
Mark Jensen, president and CEO of Harmons, said that Harmons will also maintain its masking mandate, with 80% of store employees still unvaccinated.
“We sincerely believe that the mask is just a small price to pay to have all businesses open,” said Jensen.
Jensen also echoed the governor’s comments urging the Utahns not to be “an idiot” with store employees when it comes to stores that choose to maintain mask requirements.
“Please remember, they are just working. They are doing their job, ”said Jensen. “They did not put this into practice. They did not cause the pandemic. They are just trying to show up for work every day. So, remember your words, please, ‘Don’t be an idiot.’ ”
Greis said that the pandemic has brought the restaurant and bar industry “many challenges and few easy solutions. Our industry has made incredible sacrifices to keep our employees and the community safe. “
She said that Publik continues with his mask requirement “because we have learned something: masks work.
“We have come so far. So we are asking for your support – support our industry, support our community, wear your masks a little more. They work, ”said Greis. “Governor Cox knows this, but evidently the Utah legislature does not. So, please stay with us. ”