JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — The Jefferson County Health Department's Board of Trustees voted to allow the county's mask mandate to expire.
At a board meeting Thursday, the board did not extend the county's mask mandate, which expired at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
The mandate went into effect on Nov. 27, 2020, and was most recently extended for a month on Feb. 25.
Jefferson County's mask mandate applies to people 10 years and older, when they are indoors and cannot maintain social distancing of six feet apart.
In a statement, the Jefferson County Health Department advised residents to continue wearing a mask and continuing mitigation efforts despite the expiration of the mask mandate.
"We, as a County, need to continue to practice social distancing, good hygiene, obtain a vaccine if desired, stay home when sick and wear masks as a personal choice even though not ordered by public agencies," the statement said.
On Wednesday, the county's health department reported a slight increase in cases. As a result, the county returned to "Orange Status." Epidemiologist Sara Wilton with the Jefferson County Health Department supported the idea of an extension of the mask mandate due to current trends.
"Based on the previous two weeks’ data and trends of increasing weekly case counts for our county, I would support the recommendation that we extend the mask mandate another month to avoid any other significant increases in cases or hospitalizations," she said.
RELATED: Jefferson County goes back to 'orange' status, county in 'race against clock' to distribute vaccines
The full statement from the Jefferson County Health Department is as follows.
Today the Jefferson County Health Department Board of Trustees during our regular monthly meeting have decided to allow the ongoing COVID Countywide Mask Order to expire. The County Executive concurs in this decision and supports the same.
While there are many opinions on both sides of this issue the Health Department and the County agree that this is not the time to let our collective guard down. We, as a County, need to continue to practice social distancing, good hygiene, obtain a vaccine if desired, stay home when sick and wear masks as a personal choice even though not ordered by public agencies.
While we are mindful of the changes in the COVID numbers and are making changes in recommendations in response to these lower trends, this is a time for personal responsibility to ensure these numbers continue to trend downward. Please help us ensure our collective Public Health remains high and our numbers remain low. Thank you.