In close vote, county extends mask order through end of the year

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — County commissioners agreed this morning to extend a mask order through the end of the year, though the vote was closer than the unanimous one of the town on Monday.

The final 3-2 vote to approve extension through December 31 of Health Order 21-5, requiring masks in public indoor settings as long as the county is in Red or Orange risk level was less about the majority vote and more about pushback voiced by Commissioners Mark Barron and Greg Epstein.

Minority opinion

Epstein, in particular embodied many of the concerns rarely addressed by health or government officials when discussing the pandemic.

What are the long-term health implications of wearing masks for extended periods of time? What psychological damage are we doing to our kids when, through fear, we tell them they have to mask up even outdoors when no one is around? What is the yardstick and metrics used, when it seems the CDC can’t make up its own mind, and is seemingly moving the goalposts indefinitely?

These were the exact questions posed by Epstein that did not receive adequate answer for him to change his vote from no on whether to extend a mask mandate.

Commissioner Barron did not care for the length of time (4 months) the order extension called for.

“Help me understand the logic of asking for 4 more months of mask wearing,” he asked of Dr. Paul Beaupre.

Barron, who said he, personally, does wear a face covering in most situations, also expressed a desire to let people make their own choices.

“As elected officials, often we see a problem and our first thought is to make laws and rules to mitigate the problem,” Barron admitted. “But I trust the public will make the right decisions and choices. The public does think beyond their own viewshed, and thinks of others. People want to be trusted to make their own decisions rather than be forced by a blanket mandate.”

Beaupre told commissioners, “This Delta variant is a different animal than what we were dealing with 18 months ago. Children’s hospitals are beginning to fill up these cases across the country. If we take this mask order away after 10 days we are asking for trouble.

Public comment given, including Maury Jones and Gloria Courser, was 100% against extending the health order.

How they voted

With Teton County’s vaccination rate at 72%, and some 4,460 (out of nearly 25,000) county residents having already contracted COVID at some point, the board of County Commissioners voted 3-2 to extend the mask order as long as the county is at the Red or Orange risk level.

Chair Natalia Macker, voting in the affirmative, said, “Like everyone else I don’t enjoy wearing a mask. But a lot of people have had to sacrifice to keep everyone else safe. There are really difficult but not impossible choices we have to make. I hear our health officials asking to deploy a tool that is not the single cure-all but is part of the tools in the toolbox in our multi-layered approach. And I support giving them that tool…and hope to see our numbers go down and the masks come off.”

Commissioner Mark Newcomb said he believes masks are working to a degree. He did admit he wished the science around face coverings was clearer. “Studies are often mixed in their conclusions,” he said. In the end, Newcomb worried about a worst-case scenario that might have quarantines hampering the economic engine of Jackson Hole.

Commissioner Luther Propst simply stated, “I’ll cast my lot with Dr. Riddell’s order.”