St. Louis Reinstates Indoor Mask Mandate Despite Threat of State Lawsuits AG

by



[ad_1]

Starting Monday, St. Louis required people 5 years and older to wear masks in indoor public spaces and on public transportation.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against the warrant on the day it went into effect.

The mandate, intended to reduce the spread of the virus, applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Exceptions would include people sitting in a restaurant or bar eating and drinking and people with disabilities who prevent them from putting on or taking off face covers, according to a press release.

During a press conference, Mayor Tishaura Jones said the city was still at a “dangerous point” with the virus, facing a number of infections not seen since December.

Missouri and its neighbor Arkansas have seen some of the highest infection and hospitalization rates in recent weeks amid a recent increase that has hit unvaccinated communities particularly hard.

About 41% of Missouri’s population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Saint-Louis has only fully vaccinated 35.4% of its residents, according to the state’s most recent dashboard.
The CDC said people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks indoors or outdoors. Studies show that vaccines, while not 100% effective, protect against Covid-19 infection and serious illness.
If you're not vaccinated against Covid-19, you shouldn't walk into a bar or restaurant, expert says
Saint-Louis is one of many cities that have reissued indoor mask warrants amid the continued spread of Covid-19 and its more transmissible Delta variant. Los Angeles County, California; Provincetown, Massachusetts; and Savannah, Georgia, are among the cities that have also reverted to mask requirements in recent days.

Schmitt, a Republican candidate for the US Senate, called the mask’s tenure “unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, unconstitutional and illegal.”

“This continued government excess is unacceptable and unconstitutional, especially in the face of a widely available vaccine,” Schmitt said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “There is absolutely no scientific reason to continue to force children to wear masks at school,” he adds.

After Schmitt announced his intention to take legal action in a tweet Over the weekend, Mayor Jones said his threat was “frivolous” and served “her own interests at the expense of public health.”

“It’s easy to show (when) your biggest concern is filming your next campaign ad and driving influence away,” Jones said of Schmitt.

The biggest increase in vaccinations is in the city’s black community, Jones said. Those same neighborhoods, she said, account for 74% of new cases. The city sends vaccination trucks to communities hardest hit by the virus, she said, and they “meet people where they are” to get them vaccinated.

She also said her entire family is vaccinated, including her 13-year-old son.

CNN’s Eric Levenson and Raja Razek contributed to this report.



[ad_2]

Source link