JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — After a four-hour-long meeting, Jefferson County health officials decided Tuesday not to vote on the issue of a county-wide face mask mandate.
Protesters on both sides of the mask debate gathered outside of the building during the meeting, shouting back and forth at one another.
"We think it's our God-given right, our constitutional right, to be able to choose that freedom to wear a mask or not. We're not afraid of the virus," Jason Strieder said.
"I don't believe it's infringing on anybody's rights, but if we have rights, we also have a responsibility. And I think our responsibility is to contribute to the public health," Connie Doty said.
The health department's board of trustees agreed to "double up" its recommendations on mask wearing, social distancing and limiting crowd sizes, but those are not requirements, Jefferson County's health director said.
The board also decided to require masks in public health facilities.
"I think any step forward is the right decision at this point," Health Director Kelley Vollmar said.
Vollmar reported cases in Jefferson County jumped by 255 since last week, and the positivity rate has nearly doubled in the same time frame — from 6.5% to 11.8%.
"Our numbers are definitely dictating that we need to take action." Kelley Vollmar said.
But not even the elected health board can agree on the science.
"I would not wear a mask," board member Suzy Davis said.
Davis has no prior medical or public health experience. When we asked her about her background, she said, "my opinion is based on my doctor and the doctors I've listened to and studied under" but did not name a specific doctor.
Davis later said she did not have a college degree in the field, so it remains unclear which doctors she studied under.
She repeated claims that there's a cure for coronavirus and that people need to expose themselves to it to build immunity. Both ideas are debunked by medical doctors.
After Davis made similar claims in a meeting last week, 5 On Your Side talked with Dr. Jason Newland, a Washington University Infectious disease specialist, who clarified what treatments are available.
"There is no treatment for the SARS COV-2 virus or COVID-19 that is curative. There are treatments when you're sick but the best cure is not to get it," Dr. Newland said.
The board ending its meeting saying it will continue watching the data, and if the situation changes more, it could change its decision.
You can watch the full meeting below
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