ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County health officials say the surge of COVID-19 infections and disease due to the omicron variant has eased significantly. Monday is the day mask mandates came to an end in St. Louis County and across the state of Illinois.
County Executive Dr. Sam Page says the end of the omicron surge is not the end of the pandemic but moving away from a mask requirement is a great step.
Business owners in the Metro East say Illinois is open.
Lunch is on inside Lotawata Creek restaurant in Fairview Heights. As of Monday, a “mask required” sign no longer greets customers at the front door.
A customer named Sharon was not wearing a mask.
“It’s in my hand,” she said, “I’m waiting to see if I have to use it or not.”
A 5 On Your Side reporter told her she did not.
“OK, that’s good,” she said.
Restaurant co-owner Rodney Archer said business is down as much as 30 percent compared to before the pandemic.
“Hopefully we get that back,” said Archer. “Like I said – more people are shopping in Illinois. We do have a lot of customers from the Missouri side of the river, and I think this will balance us back out to where our normal numbers would be.”
In Florissant and other St. Louis County locations, Schnucks removed the mask requirement for customers, employees and vendors Monday.
Customer David Wade said, “No matter what they decide, I will still wear mine to protect myself.”
Customer Eloise Stith said, “I love it, because I’m tired of these masks.”
Another woman who did not want to be identified said, “I’m still going to wear mine. Germs are still around, and you don’t know who is affected or infected.”
Schnucks locations in the city of St. Louis will continue requiring masks, because they are complying with local governmental mask mandates and the mask mandate in St. Louis does not expire until next week.
St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page said while the end of the omicron surge is something to celebrate, it is not the end of the pandemic.
Page said, “Hopefully it is the end for a very long time of hospitals being pushed to capacities. Medical centers are breathing a sigh of relief, while keeping a wary eye on the virus which continues to hospitalize people, every day.”