City revises mask order, removes medical condition exemption in bars and restaurants

Cases rising with no end in sight here locally, the city is revising it's current mask order,good evening and thanks for joining us.

I'm alan van zandt.

The revision effects bars and restaurants and kq2's ron johnson joins us now in studio with more on how they're reacting to today's news, ron thanks alan, the new revision removes the exemption of mask usage for people with respitory conditions, it's a move both the mayor and one local business hopes will prove effective.

<<ron johnson reporting as covid-19 continues to spread rapidly throughout the area, st.

Joseph mayor bill mcmurray announced a change to the city's mask ordinancewe are going to tighten the medical exemption in bars in restaurants, starting friday, the city's mask ordinance will no longer provide an exemption for those with respiratory issues from wearing masks in bars and restaurants.

This move comes as buchanan county is seeing some of the highest numbers of hospitalizations and deaths since the pandemic began.

This week 11 people in the county have died from covid-19, and the mayor along with health officials say now is the time to try to reverse coursewear the mask, socially distance, avoid large groups.

If everybody will do that and as the governor says take personal responsibility, we can get these numbers back down.

It's very sad, some of them could have been prevented.

It's a message patrons of at least one local restaurant seem to be getting, staff at la mesa say more customers are complying to the mask order as the virus spreads in the beginning we noticed a lot of people were mad thinking there was something like not really convinced, now everyone is convinced that this is necessary under the new normality.we are more conscious about covid, and how it spreads in the population and its bad.

The mayor says it will take everyone to fight this virus, he adds if not everyone's onboard, he will move ahead with stricter measures once again he's urging the public to come togetherif they don't and you know we fill up the hospitals we're gonna be backed into a corner we're not going to have any choice.