Mask Mandates

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

It’ll once again be on the Idaho Senate to decide the future of a proposed ban on mask mandates.

Idaho House lawmakers will once again take up a bill to ban government agencies from implementing mask mandates.

Idaho House lawmakers will once again consider a bill banning mask mandates nearly five years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. Luke’s health system announced this week it would no longer require people to wear masks in most areas of their hospitals and clinics.

Could mask mandates be coming back in some places? Idaho Matters finds out.

Glacier National Park has re-instituted a mask mandate inside federal buildings, like visitor centers. Officials there say they’re following National Park Service and Interior Department guidance. That is, when the CDC reports a high level of COVID-19 community spread around a park, officials re-institute an indoor mask mandate. Other national parks could bring back mask requirements, too, if rates increase around the West.

The travel mask mandate is over but concern regarding the spread of COVID-19 is not. Dr. Pate joins Idaho Matters to talk about whether or not we should leave our masks behind when traveling.

A federal judge in Boise heard arguments Wednesday in a case over Hailey’s order to wear masks in public spaces.

The public health district’s risk levels, released every two weeks, show Blaine County in the “critical” risk level, the highest, for new cases, the case positivity rate and the local hospital capacity.