The Salt Lake County Health Department has made the unprecedented move to require a respirator-type mask as a part of the latest mandate.
A 30-day mask mandate was issued for Salt Lake County late Friday by Dr. Angela Dunn, the executive director of the Salt Lake County Health Department. Mayor Jenny Wilson signed the order.
The order has an important distinction from others before it: It requires people to wear respirators — high-quality masks such as N95, KN95 or KF94 — which are certified to filter a minimum amount of airborne particles. However, the health department added that cloth masks are acceptable as a backup until someone can get a respirator.
"On Friday afternoon while preparing to provide masks to community organizations, Salt Lake County Health Department recognized that we had a robust supply of KN95 and N95 respirators in our warehouse," SLCHD spokesman Nicholas Rupp wrote in an email Saturday."Because they provide significantly better transmission protection from omicron, Dr.
The county said it is offering respirators to the public at no cost, but they ask that they be reserved for those unable to purchase one themselves. They can be picked up at county senior centers and county library branches.“It's always nice to be able to help people who need that just a little extra bit of help here in the community,” said Sara Neal a spokesperson for Salt Lake County Libraries.
But not everyone was happy about the mandate on the first day it went into effect, as multiple protests were held in downtown Salt Lake City. Watch the video above to hear what some protesters had to say.
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