Colorado Springs and El Paso County leaders react to governor’s mask mandate
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- As a statewide mask order is set to go into effect in just a couple hours, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers says he saw it coming.
"I talk to the governor at 2 p.m. every Tuesday," Suthers said.
On Tuesday, July 14, Suthers says he got word a mask requirement was in the works.
“Frankly our numbers in El Paso County have been pretty good compared to the rest of the state, until the last few weeks," Suthers said.
In an interview with KRDO, the mayor asked the city to comply with Gov. Jared Polis' orders. But El Paso County Commissioner Mark Waller isn't so supportive of the governor's executive order.
"We continue to be frustrated," Waller said. "We feel that we can handle these issues in El Paso County better than the state can. We feel that a one-size-fits-all circumstance is not right for El Paso County."
Waller argues the area still has plenty of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
"We’re in a circumstance in El Paso County, where, across our entire network of hospitals, just over 30 people are in the hospitals right now with COVID-related symptoms," Waller said.
Meanwhile the mayor tells KRDO a hospital bed shortage in Colorado might not be as far into the future as it seems.
"While we’re not in the shape that some of these other states are in right now, if you project the curve at the exponential rate we’re looking at, we could have a real problem in a couple weeks or a month,” Suthers said.
The executive order takes effect on Friday, July 17. It requires people over the age of 10 to wear a mask in public indoor places. There are several exceptions. You are not required to wear a mask in public in Colorado if you're: 10-years-old or younger, a member of law enforcement or a first responder, hearing impaired, seated to eat at a restaurant, exercising alone or with family, or giving a public speech for broadcast. People with certain medical conditions are also exempt.
The mask mandate also puts a two-week pause on variances. The Colorado Department of Public Health also says it's in the process of talking with counties who are not complying with their variances by having too many new COVID-19 cases. However, the state did not say which counties are at risk of losing variances.
The executive order is expected to increase mask-wearing by 15 to 20%.
