Public health officials say a sudden spike in coronavirus cases in Ada County is one reason why they aren’t lifting a mask mandate just yet.
Ada County saw its number of cases jump 20% over the past week. Officials at Central District Health believe that’s partly due to people celebrating the Labor Day holiday.
They’ve also seen cases in K-12 schools throughout the district, but say they won’t release that information claiming federal privacy laws prevent them from doing that.
CDH Director Russell Duke says restrictions on businesses will also remain in place for the time being.
“We need to allow some of these businesses to get back in operation, but I would say [it’s] very unlikely that we’re going to be able to do that without any form of restrictions anytime in the near future,” Duke said.
Valley County Commissioner Elt Hasbrouck, a board member of CDH, said cases are much lower in his county since its mask mandate took effect last month. But he said it shouldn’t be lifted until the first part of October to help drive them down even further.
“If we can ride this bull another week or two, I think we’re going to be looking at a lot different numbers,” Hasbrouck said.
Board members took no action Tuesday evening and are scheduled to meet again next week.
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