County Board of Health is asking the Winneshiek County Board to approve its previous statement about mask wearing

Members of the Winneshiek County Board of Health are forwarding to county supervisors a statement approved at last month's Board of Health meeting.

The statement (which is linked below) "STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that all Winneshiek County residents and visitors wear a cloth face mask or face covering when in public and maintain a six (6) foot distance from others."

Board of Health members rejected a proposal to approve a mask mandate, although County Attorney Andy Van Der Maaten told board members local boards of health have such authority and a mandate would be "most defendable."

But Board of Health member Kurt DeVore said that while "wearing a mask is 100 percent the right thing to do," he questioned whether the board had the authority to issue such a mandate.  Board member Mark Kuhn said that while he always wears a mask, other towns in Winneshiek County don't want a mandate.

Board member Janna Edrington said a mandate "has to be done," but the Board of Health decided that the strong recommendation should be sent on to supervisors instead.