YOUR AD HERE »

Glenwood Springs City Council votes to extend indoor mask order, remove outdoor mask order

The Glenwood Springs City Council voted to extend the existing face covering mandate for indoor public-facing spaces within city limits during Thursday night’s meeting.

Face masks in outdoor spaces are no longer mandatory, but are encouraged when in close proximity to others, according to a news release.

“This provides a consistent, city-wide policy in conjunction with the devolution of the State of Colorado’s COVID-19 dial and follows state recommendations for local governments to maintain these policies for indoor settings,” the news release states.



The order will be in effect through May 20, when the council will evaluate further action.

The Colorado dial expires today, but will remain as guidance for counties.



During Thursday’s meeting, Mayor Jonathan Godes said herd immunity is still a long ways out for Glenwood Springs.

“The information I’ve seen is we’re a long ways away from herd immunity because we are a resort community,” Godes said.

“Now with all these variants, really if you’re not immunized, that’s really problematic.”

Council Member Steve Davis said he would follow the will of the council when deciding what to do with any COVID-19 orders.

“But I would tell you I’ve spent some time in Texas over the last couple of months and Texas was actually the first state to remove all government control from the mask mandate and it did not change anyone’s action,” Davis said.

“We’re to the point where everyone takes care of themselves. I really don’t see where it takes the government hand to enforce these things. It’s kind of an interesting test on this in Texas.”

Council Member Paula Stepp moved to keep the indoor mask order until May 20, with all councilors except Tony Hershey voting in favor of the motion.

Reporter Shannon Marvel can be reached at 605-350-8355 or smarvel@postindependent.com.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.