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Debra McCreery, right, gathers with other protesters to voice their opinion against mandatory mask requirements Wednesday outside the South Central Public Health District in Twin Falls. ‘We’re here for our freedom,’ McCreery says. ‘The government shouldn’t be telling us what we can do.’ The South Central Public Health District board voted against a mask mandate.
TWIN FALLS — Despite a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the region and requests from doctors and hospital administrators to take action, the South Central Public Health District board on Wednesday declined require mask wearing in public.
The decision comes a day after hospital leaders held a press conference calling for a mask mandate. Following that meeting, the Central District Health voted to require masks in Ada County, which has a lower rate of cases per capita than Twin Falls, Jerome, Blaine, Cassia, and Minidoka counties, five of the eight counties covered by the South Central Health District.
The South Central board instead voted 5-2 to write a resolution “strongly encouraging” people to wear masks.
Gov. Brad Little has said he will not require masks statewide but leaves the decision to the local health districts, counties and cities.
Last week Twin Falls had 142 new confirmed cases, behind only Ada, Canyon and Kootenai counties. Minidoka and Cassia counties had the fourth and fifth highest weekly totals in Idaho with 50 and 49 cases respectively.
While the Magic Valley counties have lower numbers of cases than Ada and Canyon, they also have much smaller populations, making the rate of infections per capita much higher here than in the Treasure Valley.
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