Health officials in the city of St. Louis, Mo., and St. Louis County, starting Monday, are requiring people ages 5 and up to wear masks indoors.
Masks will also be encouraged outdoors, especially in group settings, the St. Louis Dispatch reports.
The mandate will apply regardless of vaccination due to the highly contagious spread of the delta variant in the area.
“[W]e’ve lost more than 500 St. Louisans to COVID-19, and if our region doesn’t work together to protect one another, we could see spikes that overwhelm our hospital and public health systems," said acting director of health for the City of St. Louis Dr. Fredrick Echols.
“[W]e are relentlessly committed to making vaccinations more accessible and convenient," added Dr. Faisal Khan, acting director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. "In the meantime, we need everyone, vaccinated or not, to wear masks in crowded indoor settings.”
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, plans to file a lawsuit against the order, tweeting that “[T]he citizens of St. Louis and St. Louis County are not subjects — they are free people. As their Attorney General I’ll be filing suit Monday to stop this insanity.”
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.