Assembly issues statement on expiration of mask emergency ordinance

Tonight, the Anchorage Assembly passed a resolution to end EO 2021-3 which required masks be worn in indoor public spaces.

EO 2021-3 was set to expire after one of the following conditions were met:

• Crisis standards of care ended at two of three local hospitals for 14 consecutive days
• There is no longer substantial or high community transmission per the CDC for 14 days, or
• No later than 60 days after the passage.

The Anchorage Charter only permits an emergency order to be in effect for 60 days and would have expired anyway on December 14.

“While it may seem counterintuitive to end the ordinance with the variant looming on the horizon, the mask mandate has done what was intended and set our city back on a better path,” said resolution co-sponsor Assembly Member Meg Zaletel. “If conditions change and a new public health crisis emerges, we can enact new COVID mitigations in the future.”

Co-sponsor Assembly Member Pete Petersen added “we are not out of the woods just yet, but this emergency ordinance proved that when our community works together, we can slow the spread of COVID and relieve the burden on our health care workers. We encourage everyone to continue to wear masks in indoor public spaces so we can keep up this positive momentum.”

Members of the pro-covid/pro-Bronson Save Anchorage group will likely attempt to take credit for the expiration of the emergency ordinance, but in the real world, the Anchorage Assembly and those individuals who complied with the mask mandate deserve the credit for working to lower the spread of covid within the Municipality.

Remember, you can still wear a mask.