Moscow City Council unanimously voted to extend the city’s mask mandate until Oct. 6, after an hour-long public comment period Monday night. The order, which was set to expire Aug. 4, has been in effect since July 2.
The order states face coverings must be worn in public when a physical distance of six feet can’t be maintained from non-household members. The order does not apply to those younger than five years old, incarcerated individuals and people with physical or mental health conditions and disabilities which could make wearing a face covering dangerous.
Mayor Bill Lambert, who issued the order due to significant increases in local COVID-19 cases, said he’d received hundreds of emails regarding the order. The vast majority of these emails were in favor of continuing it.
According to reporting from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, about 15 people stood outside Moscow City Hall before Monday’s meeting with signs in opposition of face masks.
During the public comment period for the mask mandate, several people spoke, some in favor and some against continuing the mask mandate.
City Councilor Art Bettge said the county’s low death rate is due to masks.
“We’ve used masks since the very beginning,” Bettge said. “Using our low rates as an excuse not to mask up is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. Our success in masking has led to those low rates.”
As of Aug. 3, there were 83 confirmed and eight probable cases of COVID-19 in Latah County, according to Public Health-Idaho North Central District.
For updated information on COVID-19 case counts, check our case count page in English or en Español.
However, the city’s approach in handling situations where people refuse to wear a mask might change, Bettge said. In addition to continuing the mask mandate, the city council decided to suspend community events permits. This comes after several sports tournaments were halted in Moscow when crowds did not follow COVID-19 safety protocols, according to the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
“I think our efforts in education and our collegial approach may not have been sufficient,” Bettge said. “I think it’s time we go into issuing warnings and subsequently issuing citations, which I know the police won’t be very happy about doing.”
The council also reviewed the city’s $96.1 million budget for fiscal year 2021 (FY21) during this meeting. The FY21 budget is roughly $5.4 million less than the budget for fiscal year 2020 (FY20) due to the impacts of COVID-19.
“The budget is the council’s largest policy statement of the year,” City Supervisor Gary Riedner said. “It allows the council to look at their available funds and inform the public on how they’re spending public money.”
Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @apalermooo