When cases of COVID-19 recently began to rise, City Council member Larry Kraft said he started to worry about the safety of the Park community. According to Kraft, this increase in cases has strengthened his view that people should wear masks to protect those around them.

“None of us likes wearing a mask… but if students can do it, we can do this, especially for the next month to help us get through this surge and minimize the number of people that are severely impacted by it,” Kraft said. 

The St. Louis Park City Council put an emergency mask mandate into effect on Jan. 21 in response to a recent increase in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant. The mandate requires masks in many indoor public places, including retail stores and restaurants and bars when not seated at a table. It does not require masks at places of worship, sporting events, and office areas where social distancing is maintained. Some individuals are also exempt from this ordinance, including children under five and people with certain medical conditions which make wearing masks dangerous. 

According to science teacher Kristyn Moravetz, it’s important to remember that while some people have these exemptions, the vast majority of people should wear masks.

“I can’t assume that, because somebody at the grocery store doesn’t have a mask, it’s because they don’t care as much as I do. It could be that their biology is different from mine,” Moravetz said. “But really, there should be very few people in the grocery store where a doctor would say, ‘a mask is not a good idea for you.’”

Junior Wes Anderson said that he expects to continue to hear complaints about wearing masks, but these are mostly unfounded. 

“I think that (masks) will make everyone safer. There will probably be people who are unhappy about it,” Anderson said.  “But it will help with COVID case numbers,” 

COVID-19 has widespread impacts beyond those actually infected with it. According to Kraft, face coverings can help reduce the strain on the healthcare system.

“With the amount of beds that are being taken up and the amount of staff who need to isolate themselves because they’ve come into contact with COVID, I’m concerned people going in for other needs will have their care impacted,” Kraft said. “That’s not fair, so I think as a society we can spend a few weeks wearing masks to minimize this.”

According to the CDC, the Omicron variant is significantly more contagious than the original variant of COVID-19, including among vaccinated people. Moravetz said the mandate is a relief from worrying about getting sick in public places in light of this new variant.

“I definitely feel safer going into a public place,” Moravetz said. “If I’m going to the grocery store and people aren’t wearing masks, it’s like ‘I only have my mask now protecting me from whatever they could be having.’”

Anderson said people should be wearing masks in public whether or not they are legally obligated to do so, but the mandate is good because it will increase mask-wearing in the city.

“I’m very much for the new mandate because I think masks are like the best way to prevent the spread of COVID,” Anderson said. “When people are just walking around in public without wearing them, it feels very irresponsible to me, so I’m happy that St. Louis Park has put in a mask mandate.”