Council approves removal of face masks in most outdoor settings

Without enough of our community willing to get vaccinated, we will have to start preparing for this to be part of our everyday lives.”

Katie Towns, Springfield-Greene County Health Department

Moving forward on the Road to Recovery, Springfield City Council last night unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s COVID-19 ordinance, allowing face coverings to be removed in certain outdoor settings.

The amended ordinance still requires face masks or coverings to be worn in public places with some new exceptions. Face masks are no longer required when standing in outdoor lines to enter a business or sitting outdoors at a restaurant.

For outdoor events, face masks are no longer required unless attendees are part of a gathering of 500 people or more who are within 6 feet of each other for more than 15 minutes.

The change comes after an announcement last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear masks while participating in outdoor activities.

Katie Towns, acting director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said the department recommends unvaccinated individuals continue to wear masks and that indoor mask requirements not be removed.

In April, council approved the yellow phase threshold of COVID-19 regulations – a step forward on the outlined Road to Recovery that allowed for lessening restrictions.

At the time, the community had met the Health Department’s thresholds of less than 40 new cases per day, under 50 hospitalizations in COVID-19 isolation and a vaccination rate of 25% of the eligible population of Greene County.

To move into the next phase, which would fully lift restrictions including face masks, the Health Department has outlined the following thresholds: less than 20 new cases per day, under 20 hospitalizations and a vaccination rate of 50%.

As of this morning, there were 32 new cases per day on average during the past week, 36 hospitalizations and only 33% of the population was fully vaccinated, with about 40% partially vaccinated, according to the Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Despite previous progress on lowering COVID-19 case numbers, Towns said she is concerned about the decline in interest in COVID-19 vaccines in Springfield and case numbers trending upward.

In the last week, the case count jumped 80% to 32 positive cases per day, with 75 new cases reported Friday, Towns said – the greatest number in one day since Feb. 23.

“Unfortunately, demand for the vaccine continues to decline and the pace of daily vaccinations is slowing down,” Towns said. “We’re concerned because at this point, we’re unlikely to reach out Finish Strong goal of vaccinating 50% of the population by Memorial Day.”

Towns said based on current trends, the city isn’t likely to reach a 50% vaccination rate until late June or early July. Prior to April 9, Towns said an average of 930 Greene County residents were vaccinated daily. Since April 9, the number has dropped to an average of 526 people per day.

“We’re now bracing for the fact that COVID-19 will become a regular and permanent part of our lives,” Towns said. “Without enough of our community willing to get vaccinated, we will have to start preparing for this to be part of our everyday lives.”

Towns said Health Department officials believe the increase in cases is due in part to COVID-19 variants within the community, including a total of five confirmed cases of the highly contagious U.K. variant.