The Utah legislature passed a bill that would end the statewide mask mandate by April 10.
During his weekly COVID-19 briefing, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he negotiated with lawmakers to try to account for the number of people who would be able to get vaccinated before the mask mandate ends.
"I obviously don't love the bill, we had already put forward our recommendations," Cox said. "We believe that it made sense to to get enough vaccines to to administer to all adults that wanted those vaccines before portions of the masked mandate went away. The legislature disagreed with that which they are entitled to do."
He said the legislature passed the bill with a veto proof majority.
Once the statewide mandate goes away, Cox said that doesn’t mean it’s the end of masks all together.
"We still have a mask mandate in schools, we still have a mask mandate in large gatherings, over with 50 or more people," he said. "So that's the first important thing. The second part of this is that businesses can and should still require mass in their places of business to protect their workers and their customers."
The pandemic, including masks have been divisive. Going forward, Cox said Utahns should “treat each other with respect.”
"If you go into a business, and they are requiring you to wear masks, don't yell at the clerk, don't yell at the store manager," he said. "Don't make a fool of yourself because you don't want to wear masks. The government after April 10, in those settings will not require it, but businesses absolutely have a right to require masks. And if you don't like it, go shop somewhere else. You don't need to be a jerk to people that you come in contact with."
Cox said all Utahns should be eligible for a vaccine by April 1. Until people are fully vaccinated, he says they should continue to social distance and wear masks.