The city of St. Louis changed course less than 24 hours after reimplementing mask mandates, announcing Friday afternoon that it would no longer require city employees to mask up while at work after pushback from hospitals, health experts and the governor.
“The City of St. Louis has updated its communications with employees regarding masking,” a representative from Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office said.
“The City of St. Louis Department of Health strongly recommends indoor masking for all City of St. Louis employees, effective immediately.”
This came a day after city health director Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis said COVID-19, RSV and flu cases in the city warranted masking again.
However, in the department on Friday has updated its original statistics with ‘less alarming’ data regarding RSV trends, according to KSDK.
‘BJC sees no pressure on hospital capacity’ BJC Health Care officials told the newspaper, adding: “We are experiencing a seasonal increase in respiratory illnesses, which is typical for this time of year.”
Mercy Hospital described it as a “typical winter.” St. Louis County said they have not seen any extraordinary strain on the health care system.
“Thankfully, our flu hasn’t peaked yet and is rising, but it’s not nearly what it was last year,” said Dr. Jim Hinrichs, interim co-director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. “It’s moderate. It’s not alarming.”
Governor Mike Parson’s office confirmed to 5 On Your Side that it had a conversation with Jones’ office on Friday about the city’s mask policy change. -KSDK
The Ministry of Health had originally claimed COVID-19 hospitalizations rose 38% in December, as 278 people were hospitalized of (but not necessarily because of) COVID-19 the week of December 23rd. Flu cases reportedly rose 455%.
Maybe, as Ian Miller noted on X, the turnaround came with the sudden realization that masks never made a difference in St. Louis anyway…
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