Eagle County Drops Indoor Mask Mandate Almost A Month After Reinstating It

EAGLE COUNTY, Colo (CBS4) -- Starting Monday, Eagle County will no longer require masks be worn inside to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Mask requirements for schools will stay in effect until Friday, but then are also set to expire.

County Commissioner Matt Scherr agrees, this was a fast move.

"...but things with Omicron move fast too," he told CBS4.

The county put a mask mandate into effect midway through December when cases started to surge. The county saw case rates per 100,000 far above many other spots in Colorado, which prompted the mask mandate. Now, Scherr said it's a different situation.

"Our cases are coming down," Scherr explained. "...Our hospital is now in better shape, at the very least, able to replace those going out sick."

Scherr said the hospital has always been the metric they've watched in terms of what required their action. Omicron has not had the devastating effect in hospital capacity compared to the number of positive cases in the county one might expect from former variants of the virus.

"That, in part, we can thank our vaccination rate in the county, close to 90%," Scherr said. "This has not been as bad for vaccinated folks, it's largely unvaccinated people who end up in our hospital."

Part of that decision is based on being able to keep staff working in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Scherr said they are now at least able to cover for people who need to call out sick, instead of operating at a deficit.

A few shops CBS4 spoke with in Vail said they would continue to wear masks as staff, but would not force that decision on their customers, calling the experience with the latest mask mandate "difficult to say the least."

Scherr told Mountain Newsroom Reporter Spencer Wilson the county was still very much asking people to wear masks any time they leave the home, just that a mandate may not be the best way to help from this point.