On May 14th, Mayor Lauren McLean announced in a video posted on YouTube that the city of Boise’s mask mandate requiring the public to wear masks both indoors and outdoors has been officially lifted.
McLean said in the emailed statement: "It is incredible to know that getting a free, readily available vaccine is all that stands between most Boise residents and a post-Covid world”.
In her recorded statement, Mayor McLean first encouraged the public to get the Covid-19 vaccine and then thanked the healthcare providers, frontline workers, partners in the business community like hospitals and Central District Health, and also the public who ‘took steps to help our community the last year’.
McLean noted that the City of Boise will continue to work with businesses on private property that have made their own decision continue to require masks and social distancing, although it isn’t quite clear how since the enforcement of mask-wearing is suspended. McLean said, “we ask Boiseans to respect and honor those requests (of the business)”.
Also of note, city facilities haven’t adopted the change, so masks will still be required in government buildings while protocols are evaluated.
While this is an incredible step for The City of Boise, it will not end the consistent monitoring of Covid-19 locally and a decision could be made to revert back to a mask requirement again if it’s deemed necessary.
McLean ended her announcement by saying “I can't wait to see smiling faces. We've all worked so hard to get here, and I'm thrilled to celebrate this summer with all of you."
View the YouTube statement here: