ST. LOUIS — Masks are mandatory in public places in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County but not everyone is wearing them and not all businesses are enforcing the requirement.
Leaders in both jurisdictions have said they are not policing the mandate. However, there is a way for residents to make their concerns heard if a business or location isn’t making people wear a mask.
People in the City of St. Louis can fill out an online form to report violations to the St. Louis Department of Health for investigation. Anyone filing a complaint should have the following information handy when filling out the form:
- Address of where the violation happened
- Date and time it was observed
- Indicate whether the violation relates to business operations or individuals’ social distancing behaviors
Mask violations in the city can be made on St. Louis’ coronavirus website.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page directed people to report mask violations inside the county limits on the St. Louis County coronavirus website.
Anyone who files a report will need to have the following information to fill out the form:
- Name of company, address and type of business
- Date and time of the violation
- Nature of the violation
County Executive Page was asked about businesses not enforcing the mandate during a COVID-19 briefing Monday. He said after someone files a report, county workers will follow up with the business to educate them on the mandate and give them signage, if needed, to help them communicate with customers.
“What we have found almost universally is once we communicate with a business then they begin complying with our guidelines,” Page said. “In fact, we have heard more from businesses who have been thanking us for this mask mandate so they can tell their customers and their patrons, ‘Look, this is a mandate, this is a requirement from the county health department. Please put on masks.’”
5 On Your Side also reached out to other local counties about making complaints about masks not being worn. St. Charles County health officials said complaints cannot be filed because they’re not mandatory.
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