St. Louis County Executive Sam Page will hold a press conference Wednesday to talk about the end of a mask requirement in the county.
According to a press release from Page's office, the county's department of public health will have an advisory that encourages masks. A county government official said the change will be effective Monday.
The mask mandate has not been officially ended. The mandate was debated Tuesday night, an order to end the mandate was voted down along party lines. Councilman Ernie Trakas, a Republican, filed the request for the order to end the requirement.
You can watch the council meeting by clicking here.
The mask requirement was put in place on Jan. 5 after a 4-3 vote by the county council. The mandate required people over the age of 5 to wear a mask "while in indoor and enclosed public buildings and spaces and public transportation" in St. Louis County.
At the time the mandate was put in place, St. Louis County was reporting record-breaking numbers of new COVID-19 cases and positivity rate due to the omicron variant. In the weeks since then, the positivity rate and the number of new cases have returned to pre-omicron levels.
Last week, Page, a Democrat, said St. Louis County could see some changes to mask rules, but wanted to see numbers continue to improve. Page said county leaders were looking at metrics such as average daily cases, the positivity rate and hospitalizations to guide them on what to do next.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who's also a Republican candidate to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Roy Blunt, filed a lawsuit calling the mandate "illegal" days after it was passed.
A St. Louis County judge denied a temporary restraining order that would have halted the mandate. The lawsuit was still working its way through the court as of Tuesday.
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