The McCall City Council voted to continue the mask requirement within city limits for another 45 days. The mandate now has an expiration date of May 26, 2021, unless it is rescinded.
The City Council said in a news release that there is an added understanding "that a system of measurement is developed in the next few weeks allowing for a light at the end of the tunnel."
The city manager, Anette Spickard, started the mask conversation with an update that noted other areas in Idaho that have active mask mandates and the metrics that guide their decision-making. The Council will meet again in late April or early May to discuss McCall specific parameters that may include weekly case rates, Idaho rebound stages and vaccination percentages.
Central District Health's Gina Pannell and St. Luke's Dr. Gregory Irvine, who both encouraged the importance of masks, gave an update of current case rates and vaccination levels in Valley County. Although case rates are trending downward in the McCall area, they maintained that McCall's tourism was the leading threat to a possible resurgence of the virus.
As in the previous order, enforcement of the mandate includes a $100 citation and document health exclusion to be presented to the prosecutor.
