The Greene County Supervisors held a discussion about allowing the countywide mask mandate to expire at the end of March.

The Supervisors initially passed the resolution to encourage masks to be worn in certain situations and places on November 12th. The original mandate was due to expire mid-January, when the Board extended it to March 31st. Supervisor Chair John Muir says the main reason the Board decided to let the mandate expire is due to the County’s consistent low 14-day positivity rate.

“I just think, at this point it’s time for people to recognize whatever responsibilities they have and whatever situation. Us mandating it, I think, has served the purpose of the mandate pretty well. Unless we see a spike (in the positivity rate) I’m thinking that would be the only thing that would have the Board revisit extending it.”

Muir believes for the most part people have followed the guidelines in the mandate, as well as from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Iowa Department of Public Health and Greene County Public Health that has contributed to the lower case numbers and positivity rate overall in the county.