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5PM: Utah mask mandate lifting for last week of school
KSL TV
SALT LAKE CITY The state of Utah won t require masks in K-12 schools for the last week of the school year, Gov. Spencer Cox announced Thursday.
Individual school districts will have the option to continue mask mandates in their schools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but the state will lift its blanket mask requirement for all districts in the state, the governor said. Starting on the Monday of whenever districts have their last weeks of school, masks won t be required, he said.
The motivation for lifting the mandate in the last week of school is to give students a chance to see their teachers and friends at schools that last week, the governor said.
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Utah has reached the COVID-19 pandemic “endgame.”
The state crossed the threshold in the three metrics outlined in HB294, also known as the pandemic “endgame” bill, Tuesday afternoon, according to Utah Department of Health officials.
That means that most state and local health orders are ending. The law passed by the Legislature in March set the end of those health orders on the day that Utah’s 14-day case rate is less than 191 per 100,000 people, the seven-day average of COVID-19 intensive care unit usage is under 15%, and 1,633,000 prime doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated to the state.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utah on Tuesday ended mandated limits on gatherings and social distancing related to the coronavirus after the state reached several metrics laid out in a so-called “COVID-19 endgame” bill passed earlier this year.
The legislation, which was passed in March, established criteria based on case rates, ICU utilization and vaccine allocations. The state previously lifted its statewide mask mandate on April 10.
Utah cleared its third and final benchmark on Tuesday after the number of vaccine doses allocated to the state reached 1.63 million, health officials said.
Masks will still be required in K-12 schools across the state, and businesses can choose to require them. Utah Transit Authority has also said it will require masks and social distancing on all buses and trains until the end of September.