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Masks still required in Salt Lake City buildings until further notice

UPDATED: MAY 11, 2021 AT 2:38 PM

FILE -- Leo Masic, Utah Transit Authority customer experience planner, sticks a sign on the door of a Utah Transit Authority bus at the Salt Lake Central Station in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The signs alert passengers that face masks must be worn in order to ride public transit. Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

BY SAIGE MILLER
KSLNewsRadio

SALT LAKE CITY– Despite an end to the statewide mask mandate, Salt Lake City will still require members of the public and city workers to wear masks when visiting a city building.

The executive order signed Monday evening by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall extends the requirement to wear masks inside city facilities until further notice. Mendenhall says the order comes as an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Masks still required in Salt Lake City facilities

City employees will be required to wear a face covering when inside city facilities, city vehicles, or when “acting within the scope of City employment indoors.”

“I’m committed to keeping our City team healthy, and ensuring the members of the public we interact with stay safe. Our City’s transmission and vaccination data, coupled with the advice of the CDC to continue wearing masks indoors tells me that we need to keep doing what has worked – wearing masks,” Mendenhall said.

There are some exceptions to the rule outlined in Mendenhall’s order including:

While actively eating or drinking, provided that the individual remains in place while eating or drinking;
While alone or only with other members of the same household in an office, room, cubicle, vehicle, or similar enclosure;
When communicating as or with an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing if the speaker wears a face shield or uses alternative protection such as a plexiglass barrier;
While engaging in work authorized by the City where wearing a face mask would create a risk to the individual, as determined by government safety guidelines;
When needed to confirm an identity
While outdoors and maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet from any individual from a different household; and
Children younger than three years old.

Community members or city employees with certain medical conditions are also exempt from the mandate.

How To Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus

COVID-19 coronavirus spreads person to person, similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:

Wash hands frequently and thoroughly, with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds.
Don’t touch your face.
Wear a mask to protect yourself and others per CDC recommendations.
Keep children and those with compromised immune systems away from someone who is coughing or sneezing (in this instance, at least six feet).
If there is an outbreak near you, practice social distancing (stay at home, instead of going to the movies, sports events, or other activities).
Obtain a flu shot.
Seek out the COVID-19 vaccine.