St. Louis rescinds mask mandate same day it went into effect

The St. Louis City Health Department issued a mask mandate for all city employees, but it rescinded the mandate the same day it went into effect.

Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, the city's health director, on Thursday issued a mask mandate for city employees indoors starting Friday, citing an increase in RSV and flu infections, not COVID-19 as has been the reasoning for such a mandate in recent years. 

Davis said action must be taken to prevent strain on the healthcare system as RSV is nearly 200% higher than the previous four years and flu is 55% higher than the highest median of the past five years. Notably, this data included the 2020-2021 season, which had low levels of flu and RSV due to COVID-19 precautions.

At the same time the mandate was issued for city employees, the health department urged the public to start wearing masks as well. 

The mandate was instituted days after local hospital officials noted an increase in flu and COVID but did not state that it was an alarming rise. 

Local doctor Dr. Alex Garza, who led the area's pandemic task force, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that medical facilities are busy, but not overwhelmed. 

The health department said Friday in an update that "upon further review of the data available" for COVID, RSV and the flu, the department wanted to "clarify the information" since the previous data "did not adequately adjust for differences in temporality." The new data will compare virus counts to the previous month.

The city on Friday recommended masking for the city but stressed that it is not mandating it. 

Meanwhile, some hospitals across the nation are returning to mask mandates in states such as California, New York and Illinois, per Reuters. 

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