Hundreds of residents who attended a St. Louis County council meeting where a mask mandate was overturned are now being advised to quarantine after an attendee tested positive for COVID-19, according to KMOV news.
“The City of St. Louis Department of Health (DOH) is working to identify and notify close contacts of the individual, but out of an abundance of caution it is recommended that anyone who attended the council meeting quarantine for the next nine days and monitor their symptoms,” the St. Louis health departments said in a statement.
The mask mandate, which took effect on Monday, was put in place by St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. It requires everyone wear a mask in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status.
The mandate was met with swift backlash from officials in the county and statewide. According to CNN, Missouri’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on Monday after the mandate went into effect.
The next day the mandate was discussed at St. Louis County Council meeting, where many maskless members of the public spoke, mostly in favor of reversing the mask mandate. Many speakers said it is an issue of freedom, while one said the mandate could be helpful, KMOV reports.
The committee voted 5-2 to overturn the mandate. However, it is still in effect until the lawsuit is resolved.
The coronavirus will infect people and continue to spread, killing many of its victims – without respect to political affiliation, race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual preference – and in many cases – even without respect to age. Although children are rarely admitted to the hospital for COVID, 1 of 20 who are will suffer neurological complications (). Biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease are found in a large number of adults who have suffered from COVID, particularly those who had olfactory (smell) impairment.
Rather than letting politics or “rebellion” or “freedom” dictate your medical decisions, it would be best to take the actions necessary to avoid the very real medical complications (including death) that are affecting those with SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) infections. Being careful, wearing masks when indoors or in crowds, distancing when possible, and taking advantage of one of the several very safe and effective vaccines makes sense – to help yourself, and to help others – and to help get our economy back on track as quickly as possible. No one is forcing these actions, you are free to do as you choose, but please choose wisely.