ST. LOUIS — City of St. Louis officials announced Friday afternoon that it is no longer requiring city employees to wear a mask while working, less than 24 hours after issuing a mask mandate.
"The City of St. Louis has updated its communications with employees surrounding masking," a statement from Mayor Tishaura Jones' office said. "The City of St. Louis Department of Health strongly recommends masking indoors for all City of St. Louis employees, effective immediately."
St. Louis Director of Health Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis originally said on Thursday that "significant increases" in COVID-19, RSV and flu cases in the city were the reason behind the mask order. However, on Friday morning, the department replaced its original statistics with less alarming data showing respiratory viruses trending up.
Area hospitals seemed surprised when the city originally issued the mask mandate.
"BJC is not seeing a strain on hospital capacity," BJC Health Care officials told 5 On Your Side. We are experiencing a seasonal increase in respiratory illness, which is typical for this time of year."
Mercy Hospital described it as a "typical winter." St. Louis County said they haven't seen any out-of-the-ordinary strains on the health system.
"Luckily our influenza has not spiked yet and it is going up, but it's not nearly what it was last year," according to Dr. Jim Hinrichs, the interim co-director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. "It's moderate. It's not alarming."
Gov. Mike Parson's office confirmed to 5 On Your Side it had a conversation with Jones' office on Friday related to the city's mask policy shift.
This is a developing story. This article will be updated with the lastest information as it is released.
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