On Jan. 5, St. Louis announced that it would no longer require city employees to wear face masks while working due to pushback from hospitals, health experts and the governor herself.
A representative from St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones' office announced that the city has "updated its communications with employees surrounding masking." The representative added that the city's Department of Health (DOH) "strongly recommends masking indoors for all City of St. Louis employees, effective immediately."
The announcement came only a day after St. Louis Health Director Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis claimed that COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu cases in St. Louis justified enforcing mask mandates again.
However, the department updated its original statistics with "less alarming" data about current RSV trends. (Related: Association of American Physicians and Surgeons: Mask mandates provide no clear benefits, cause harm and violate the right to informed consent.)
Hlatshwayo Davis originally said "significant increases" in COVID-19, RSV and flu cases in St. Louis were the reason behind the mask order. At the time, area hospitals seemed surprised when the city originally issued the mask mandate.
BJC Health Care officials said that BJC did not observe "a strain on hospital capacity." Officials said that while BJC is experiencing a seasonal increase in respiratory illness, it is "typical for this time of year." Others like Mercy Hospital described it as a "typical winter."
St. Louis County reported that it did not observe any unusual strains on the health system.
Dr. Jim Hinrichs, the interim co-director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, explained that St. Louis was lucky because influenza cases have not spiked yet. While flu cases were going up, it's not nearly as bad as it was last year. He added that the cases recorded at the time were "moderate" and "not alarming."
Missouri Governor Mike Parson's office confirmed that it had a conversation with Jones' office on Friday about St. Louis' mask policy shift.
City health department previously claimed that COVID-19 hospitalizations were up
St. Louis' health department originally claimed that COVID-19 hospitalizations have gone up by 38 percent over December, saying that 278 people were hospitalized with, but not necessarily because of, COVID-19 during the week of Dec. 23.
Flu cases had allegedly gone up by 455 percent.
But according to Ian Miller's post on X, the reversal was because of the sudden realization that face masks didn't make a significant difference in St. Louis anyway.
Over the holidays, many St. Louisans spent their Christmas break in urgent care or emergency department waiting rooms.
Dr. Farrin Manian, Mercy St. Louis' Department of Medicine Chair, said there were three different viruses frequently spreading among patients. Aside from COVID-19, there were cases of RSV and influenza. The three diseases all cocirculated in St. Louis.
Manian warned that people can be sick with multiple viruses at the same time, adding that many of those patients can be more severely ill because their bodies have to deal with the symptoms of two different viruses.
Manian also explained that older adults and immunocompromised patients are at greater risk of hospitalization by viruses. While some are worried that going to the doctor and being around others can expose one to another bug, Manian said there is always a risk of infection.
"You always have to look at benefits and the risks. I think the risk is still very low. If you have a reason to see a physician, that reason is usually of greater importance than the risk of getting something when you go see them," said Manian.
Visit BadMedicine.news for more stories about unnecessary mask mandates.
Watch the video below about some hospitals that bring back mask mandates due to an alleged increase in COVID-19 cases.
This video is from the Alex Hammer channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Political analyst: People HAVE HAD ENOUGH of COVID-19 restrictions.
Return of the mask: China recommends face coverings amid rising COVID-19 cases, respiratory diseases.
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