Cache County response to Salt Lake County mask mandate
Salt Lake County voted 5-4 to uphold a 30-day mask mandate that requires all residents to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status, at all public locations until Feb. 7.
Cache County does not plan to follow Salt Lake County’s response to surges of the Omicron variant, although Cache County council members and Utah State University said they have been working closely with the Bear River Health Department, or the BRHD, to determine what safety measures are implemented or updated.
“The Bear River Health Department has been doing amazing work throughout the pandemic,” Cache County council member Paul Borup said. “Safety measures and response plans have been continually adjusted throughout the pandemic, and response to the Omicron variant is no different.”
Borup also mentioned an adjusted school response plan can be found on their website and testing sites have been moved to better accommodate traffic increases. Vaccine clinics are also available through health departments, pharmacies and local health care providers.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the great work that has been done by our local health care providers, hospitals and pharmacies,” Borup said. “They have worked tirelessly alongside the health department to procure and distribute needed supplies such as testing kits, vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments.”
Mandates and safety measures are only implemented by Cache County with advising of the BRHD.
Cache County Council Chair Barbara Tidwell, declined to comment when asked about coronavirus safety measures and the Salt Lake County mask mandate, but said, “Salt Lake is much different from Cache County and we do not let their decisions of what they do affect our decisions in what we do for Cache County.”
As for USU, the university is continuing its recommendation of masking indoors along with reporting vaccination status requirements.
“We know that our faculty really set the tone in their classrooms and if they wear a mask and they really encourage it then more students will too,” USU spokeswoman Amanda DeRito said.
DeRito also said the university hopes students will do their part during this surge.
“Wear a mask. Make sure they’re fully vaccinated,” she said. “We do offer the clinics for those and really encourage students as well to get boosters as soon as they are available. Stay home when you’re sick. We know that that’s super hard because we all have so much to do, but we definitely need to do that.”
With the New York Times reporting 28,678 coronavirus cases as of Jan. 16 in Cache County, it continues to face high seven-day case rates. “It appears to me the two biggest challenges have been getting enough resources and effective communication,” Borup said. “Making sure people have correct and reliable information has always been a challenge. As Gandhi said, ‘An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.’” Borup said.
-Maya.Mackinnon@usu.edu