City Of Boise: Mayor McLean Lifts Mask Requirement For City Buildings And Events

Press release from the City of Boise:

March 4, 2022

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean is lifting the face covering requirement for events and city buildings. The mayor is also easing other COVID-19 safety policies to reflect the State of Idaho’s case data which shows Ada County as a medium-risk area. These updates will be effective Monday, March 7.

“I have always been committed to ensuring that each city employee and every resident who walks into our buildings or attends an event with their family can feel safe. COVID-19 numbers are down and staying down, which means I can make this change,” said Mayor McLean. “We didn’t get here by accident. I’d like to thank everyone who was willing to think of their community, maintain physical distancing, and simply put on a mask when going into a public building. Together, we helped make this a safer and healthier city for everyone.”

Boise City Hall never closed, and the city’s services were never interrupted. In the past seven months, as the Delta and Omicron waves surged, city staff:

City staff stayed on the cutting edge to keep people safe. For instance, Boise was one of the first cities in the country to use wastewater testing to track COVID-19 spread. Strategies like this also helped save hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. In an expert review of Boise’s costs, cities similar to its size spent 3-5 times as much on Covid-related health insurance payouts.

The complete list of updates to the COVID-19 safety policies are:

The City of Boise will continue to monitor the COVID-19 health crisis and consult with state and local health officials to quickly change or modify health orders as needed.

Please get vaccinated if you can and continue to do your part to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community.

This press release was produced by the City of Boise. The views expressed here are the author’s own.