As Covid-19 cases fall and vaccines spread across the country, a handful of rulers have dropped mask mandates across the state, raising tensions with some city leaders who maintain their own restrictions to combat new coronavirus strains.
The Iowa government, Kim Reynolds, withdrew this month the mandate of state masks and restrictions on social gatherings, after the number of cases and hospitalizations had fallen by about 80% since the vaccination programs and fall peaks in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
“We need to make sure we do everything we can to protect Yowans, especially the most vulnerable,” the Republican governor said in an interview. “But I also need to balance the economies that support people trying to keep a business or maintain their livelihoods.”
Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City and several other cities do not plan to follow the governor’s example on the withdrawal of the face cover mandate, as several new strains of Covid-19 have reached the state and the deployment of vaccines lasts longer than expected.
“I think it’s time to be more diligent than ever,” said Frank Cownie, Democratic mayor of Des Moines, who launched his own mask mandate in August, several months before the state.