Area health officials encourage mask wearing despite terminated city-wide order

People in st.

Joseph will no longer have to wear face masks in public.

Good evening and thanks for joining us.

I'm jodie o'brien.and i'm alan mayor mcmurray lifting the mandate after a 5-4 vote by city council last night- despite the move, it was not the recommendation given to them from local health experts here's kq2's kilee thomas with more starting wednesday- masks will be optional in st joseph a decision local health experts aren't fully on board withsot: debra bradley, st joseph health director-"because there's not a mandate, it doesn't mean you can't wear a mask."throughout the covid pandemic-and up until monday night's city council meeting... area health officials chipping in and advising city leaders on covid policies the the mask mandatesot: pat dillon, mosaic life care- "we encourage you, if you can, to let it expire on it's natural time.

I'm not asking anything more than you've already made a decision on."

But in a 5-4 vote the city-wide mask mandate.

A few weeks or months earlier than health experts hoped for sot: bradley- "on april 9th, the state has opened up the phases for everyone in missouri to receive the vaccine, so if we could wait a few weeks after that- say may 1st or a few weeks after would give our community the everyone vaccinated who wants to be vaccinated and that 14 day period to take effect."

And while masks won't be required in the city-area medical officials continue encouraging masking upbut inside some local businesses- masks will be more than encouragedsot: natalie redmond, vp of membership for st joseph chamber of commerce- "it's important to remember that once a mask mandate is lifted from a city ordinance, that it's still the business owner's right to require masks of their employees or their patrons."chamber of commerce says don't throw away your masks local businesses have the final comes to each shop's covid policyso stay informed- look for signage or call ahead to know whether you need to slip on your mask before walking through the door reporting in st joseph kilee thomas kq2 news mayor mcmurray says the mask order isn't completely off the table...if covid cases begin to spike once again...he says the council will look to re- instate the