(KNSI) – St. Cloud will talk about a possible citywide mask mandate at next week’s city council meeting. Earlier this month, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis and other area city leaders decided against a mask mandate after CentraCare Health asked civic leaders for a public mandate to slow the spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant.
St. Cloud Council Member Carol Lewis asked for the topic to be added to Monday’s meeting agenda because she says the council never had a chance to discuss the issue.
“From my perspective when you have your medical people asking you to do something that holds a lot of weight and I just think that we as a council should at least have a chance to discuss and present our views.”
Lewis says she doesn’t like wearing masks, but she wears them all the time anyway because you never know who is at risk of having severe complications from COVID.
“I feel it’s important to help my fellow citizens. I have friends who are immunocompromised who are very susceptible to getting COVID and I keep them in mind because you don’t know who is immunosuppressed or immunocompromised when you’re walking down the street.”
Lewis is doing some research to see if the city council can take action if it wishes at Monday’s meeting. Duluth, Rochester, Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Brooklyn Center put mask mandates in place in recent weeks.
On January 7th, CentraCare Health made a plea to community leaders to implement a public mask mandate due to the sharp increase in COVID cases. St. Cloud’s mayor signed a letter with other area cities encouraging the public to wear masks inside any building if they’re around more people than their immediate family.
For months, St. Cloud Hospital and other healthcare facilities across the state have been overflowing with COVID patients. Virtually all of CentraCare’s 400 beds at St. Cloud Hospital are full. Around 25% of those patients have tested positive for COVID.
“I don’t believe that the mandates, from a city in particular, but the government mandates of wearing masks or the mandates of vaccination is something that I support. I just don’t believe in mandates,” said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis, “when they’re asking and saying that masks would help indoors, all right, I will do that. And I’ll ask folks to do that. But I’ll ask, I’m not going to tell. And I just don’t believe that’s government’s role.”
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!