LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. — As cases of COVID-19 start to go down, some communities are starting to lift mask mandates.
That's the case in Lincoln County, where masks are no longer required.
The county issued the mask mandate in December but lifted it this week after the positivity rate went below 10 percent for two straight weeks.
Brett Siefert is the Lincoln County Health Department Administrator.
He says the mask mandates were one of the major factors resulting in numbers going down.
"It’s always the possibility that we could extend the order, but that’s not the goal," Siefert said. "The goal is to get our numbers down, that's the real benefit to our residents and population. It's always an option, but not the first choice."
Back in February, Washington, Missouri removed its mask mandate after numbers went down in COVID-19 cases, death rates, and hospitalizations.
A spokesperson with Washington's Emergency Management said the mask mandate was established in November. From there, the council voted it out after consulting with health professionals and looking at the numbers in its area.
Also in the mix is Jefferson County.
It put its mask mandate up for a February vote extending it to March 25.
A spokesperson for the Jefferson County Health Department said as of right now, it is still undetermined whether or not the mask order will come up for a vote again in its March board meeting.
So as numbers improve, mask mandates may be tossed.
Dr. Fred Buckhold from SSM Health SLU Hospital weighs in.
"I think it's a little premature, I think until we get where enough people are vaccinated," he said.
Right now, Missouri has less than 10 percent of people fully vaccinated.
"We're talking about getting people 60%, 70%, 80% vaccinated before we talk about that, so we have so far to go for when it's safe. Once we reach that, I think it's something that we need from the CDC to say we've reached this critical mass that we don't recommend wearing mask routinely anymore," Dr. Buckhold said.
Dr. Buckhold thinks we could be at risk for another spike because of the slow vaccine rollout.
He believes having a mask mandate adds another layer of authority.
Siefert said even though masks aren't required though, it's recommended.
"We’re not out of the woods just yet, we’re trending in the right direction. Until we have enough people vaccinated, we still have a lot of vulnerable individuals out there. That social distancing and masking still has a place in the community," Siefert told 5 On Your Side.
Mercy Lincoln Administrator Tony Rothermich has seen hospitalization rates go down but wants to encourage the community to keep its mitigation efforts up.
"It’s been a combination of everything that we’ve been doing. I hope as a community that we continue to keep doing what we’re doing with the mandate or not," Rothermich said.
While counties are lifting mask mandates, that doesn't mean you can go mask-free everywhere.
Businesses and schools can still require customers and students to wear them.