Friday, St. Louis City and St. Louis County (Yes, they are two separate counties/districts) Joint announcement They plan to re-implement the regulations on wearing masks in all indoor public places starting tomorrow, “and strongly encourage them to wear masks outdoors.”
British stone. Louis – Faced with rising COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, St. Louis and St. Louis County leaders announced on Friday that they will resume mask requirements for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents.
It is one of the few areas in the country where masks are once again mandatory.
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Officials said that starting from Monday, indoor public places and public transportation will need to wear masks, but did not elaborate. It is strongly encouraged to wear a mask outdoors, especially in a group environment, but it is not required. This rule will apply to people 5 years and older. According to a federal order that lasted until mid-September, all public transportation vehicles are required to wear masks.
The society’s response to the announcement is what you expect.
Local officials, and possibly the FBI soon, are fully engaged. https://t.co/PuuHV5re1c
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 23, 2021
Dear St. Charles County Enterprise,
Don’t forget to send @DrSamPage A thank you card for all the business he has sent you from Monday.
And, Sam, just for reference: I have two antibodies and I have been vaccinated. I will not obey this. https://t.co/uusQnfd9to
-Mike Ferguson’s American View (@AVPradioshow) July 23, 2021
Yes “do something”? https://t.co/G87uyg4Gzo
-Susie Moore (@SmoosieQ) July 23, 2021
Even among some Democrats.
Vaccination should be the only discussion. Wearing a mask will distract people from vaccination. https://t.co/OoI8YcIdEw
-Jane Dueker (@JaneDueker) July 23, 2021
Yes, the number of COVID cases reported in Missouri has risen sharply in recent weeks.As of today, Missouri is Report 661,507 cases (total), of which 79,261 cases were classified as “active”. This puts Missouri’s total number of cases as 18th, but the number of cases per million inhabitants is still only 29th. Missouri ranks 19th in total deaths and 29th in deaths per million. The alert stems from the fact that Missouri has added 47,747 cases in the past month, an increase of 8%. (In contrast, from May 25 to June 25, Missouri added 17,309 cases, an increase of 3%.)
The number of COVID hospitalizations has also increased. Now, Missouri Report There are 1,682 hospitalized COVID patients, of which 494 are in the ICU. Although this is still well below the high of 2,862 hospitalizations (as early as December 2020), it does have a significant increase compared to the 628 hospitalizations two months ago. In addition, Missouri’s vaccination rate is also lagging behind. Now, Missouri Report 87,412 doses of vaccine per 100,000 residents, which makes it roughly ranked 38th among the 50 states and DC.
So yes, there is a certain level of concern, especially considering Significantly rise This is also true in the case of “breakthrough”. Regardless of what people think about vaccines, it cannot be ignored that insisting that people who are vaccinated wear masks seriously weakens the message that encourages people to get vaccinated. The impulse of elected officials (and non-elected bureaucrats) to “do something” once again overwhelmed logic and legitimacy.
The decision of St. Louis County Administrator Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones to reimplement the wearing of masks violated the law passed by the Missouri State Assembly at the last session, and Signed by Governor Mike Parson In June:
Jefferson City, Missouri (Associated Press) — Missouri Governor Mike Parson enacted a new law on Tuesday that limits the duration of local public health restrictions and prohibits the government from requesting COVID-19 vaccination certificates To use public facilities and transportation.
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When a state of emergency statement is issued statewide, the new law Limit local orders restricting businesses, churches, schools, or gatherings to 30 days, unless extended by a majority vote from local governing bodies such as the city council. If there is no national emergency declaration, the local order to close the entire entity or activity classification can only last for 21 days, unless it is extended by a two-thirds vote of the local governing body.
The law also allows local regulatory agencies to stop public health orders by a majority at any time, and prohibits cities and counties receiving public funds from requesting vaccination certificates.
The members of the St. Louis County Council responded quickly:
The city council can take action as early as Tuesday to terminate the county chief’s new health authorization. He still has not communicated his authorization reason to us in accordance with the requirements of the new charter. pic.twitter.com/ukJ6TsuTu0
— Tim Fitch (@ChiefTimFitch) July 23, 2021
In addition, Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmidt has little time to announce that he will file a lawsuit on Monday to challenge the new authorization.
The citizens of St. Louis and St. Louis County are not subjects—they are free people. As their attorney general, I will file a lawsuit on Monday to stop this madness. #Coronavirus https://t.co/30RwiyS9Mr
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) July 24, 2021
Schmidt elaborated in an appearance Fox and friends, This morning.
Leftist St. Louis politicians have lost their minds.They are busy funding the police and establishing a #MaskMandate For children and people who are fully vaccinated
People are tired. This is why we sued to stop them.I join @foxandfriends discuss.#NoMaskMandate pic.twitter.com/6FkOGG7HTd
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) July 25, 2021
When asked to elaborate on his arguments in the lawsuit, Schmidt said:
Well, this is completely ridiculous. For example, St. Louis-by the way, almost nowhere in this country does this, although there may be more places online. But especially in St. Louis, they are dealing with a raging violent crime crisis. You know, last year’s murder was a 50-year high. We have a local prosecutor who did not appear in court-actually did not appear in court, and the person recently charged with murder has been released. Essentially, the only solution we heard from city leaders is to cancel funding for police for children and vaccinated people, who now require masks. This madness must stop, which is why we are filing a lawsuit on Monday.
Thankfully, Schmidt realized it was time to show some perseverance in the face of the excessive expansion of autocracy.
If the past six months have taught us anything, it is that when it comes to extensive, authoritative administrative actions, we must fight back with everything we have-all the time. No matter where we see it-fight. Our freedom is at stake.
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) July 24, 2021
