Hunter
07/08/20
Members of the Coralville City Council debated whether they could mandate the use of masks in public, given the rise of coronavirus cases in Johnson County.
During Tuesday’s meeting, City Councilor Jill Dodds, a retired nurse, told fellow council members that the recent resurgence in cases “is a health emergency.” She cited the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone over the age of two should be wearing face masks in public.
She was supported by University of Iowa ER physician and epidemiologist Melvin Donaldson, who has been urging the city to issue a mask mandate.
Council members eventually decided against the mandate, citing legal opinions by the state’s Attorney General, and reiterated by Governor Kim Reynolds, that counties and cities do not have the authority to supersede state guidance on the issue.
Council members Tom Gill and Meghann Foster have expressed frustration over the lack of local control to react to the recent uptick in cases. Gill said, “the state doing a one-size-fits-all is not the solution” as he commented that voluntary masking isn’t doing enough to control the pandemic.