Summit County’s request for a mandatory mask order was approved by the county council on Friday. The order requires people in the county to wear a mask while indoors and at public gatherings.
Summit County Council voted unanimously on Friday afternoon to adopt the new health order. Effective Saturday, mask wearing will be mandatory in Summit County while inside any indoor public space, or in line to enter any building, at any healthcare facility, at work while interacting with the public or preparing food, and at all public gatherings inside or outside. The order will be in place until September 1.
Exemptions will be granted for children under two years old, people who cannot wear face coverings for medical reasons, and while people are eating or drinking at a restaurant. You do not need to wear a mask while exercising outdoors, indoor exercise at a gym will require a mask.
Violations of the order will be treated as infractions, much like seatbelt laws, and are punishable by a fine.
Summit County Health Director Rich Bullough said the order will enter an immediate 14 day review period to see if any adjustments need to be made.
“We will be gathering comments and examples and be developing perhaps an update, a 2.0 verson of the order, going forward that will address some of these specific issues,” he added.
Park City Councilmember Steve Joyce told KPCW this is the best way for Summit County to cut down on the spread of COVID-19, which has seen a dramatic spike in recent weeks.
“There’s some obvious exceptions that you would think of like if you go to the dentist’s office or you’re in a restaurant eating food, you can’t do that through a mask," he said. "Other than that, it’s pretty much mask everywhere indoors all the time. This has just proven to be the most effective way to cut down the virus spread. Especially the big one with Coronavirus is the asymptomatic spread where people don’t even know they have it and they’re walking around spreading the disease.”
Summit County is the second county in Utah to enact a mandatory mask policy, Salt Lake County’s order also goes into effect on Saturday. You can read the full order here.
