Gov. Herbert: SL County Mandatory Face Mask Request To Be Granted

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Gov. Gary Herbert said he plans to grant a request from Salt Lake County to require face masks in public and commercial settings.

“With their (county) health department’s concurrence, we will grant their request for them to make it a mandatory requirement to wear a face mask in Salt Lake County,” Herbert said.

The joint request from Mayor Jenny Wilson and the Salt Lake County Council will be reviewed Thursday during a meeting with state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson and Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, acting director of the Utah Department of Health.

Data clearly shows that the simple courtesy of wearing a mask in public when social distancing is not possible is a very effective and low-cost way to prevent the spread of disease.https://t.co/4p2QCVsNcS

— Gov. Gary Herbert (@GovHerbert) June 24, 2020

Herbert said he would not issue a statewide order requiring face masks during Wednesday’s press briefing, adding he would leave it up to local leaders.

“There’s a process that I really am committed to so that every area of the state is treated the same,” he said. “We want to have the request that comes for any of these adjustments to come from the local government leaders, where they have some ownership to this, working in conjunction with local health departments.”

During Wednesday’s briefing, the governor also announced a member of his staff had tested positive for the virus and officials would put a pause on any moves to green for two weeks.