SL County school mask warrants hailed by some and criticized by others

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(KUTV) – As expected, the decision by the Salt Lake County Health Department to issue a school mask warrant for children under the age of 12 has sparked heated reactions.

The department’s executive director, Dr. Angela Dunn, said hiding students who are not eligible for the vaccine is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 over the next school year.

Some parents were quick to support Dunn’s announcement.

“The only thing we need to stop spreading disease from one to the other is the masks,” parent Chris Phillips told 2News. “If we don’t have these kinds of measures for our unvaccinated children, the spread will happen and it will happen quite rampantly.”

Phillips says he and 2,000 other parents have signed a petition that will be sent to Salt Lake County Council in support of a warrant.

On the other hand, some parents, including the Utah Parents United group or the UPU, are furious.

“This cannot happen, it is we, the voters of Salt Lake County, who can end the mask’s mandate,” a UPU leader said in a video posted to Facebook. “Help us please. Come together with us. Whatever happens in Salt Lake County, it will happen in the rest of the state, they will set a precedent.”

The UPU hosted training for parents on how to fight masking requirements in Utah schools on Tuesday night.

Both sides have vowed to swarm the county council with input from the public ahead of their meeting to consider the mask mandate which is expected to occur on Thursday.

The American Federation of Utah Teachers said Tuesday night that they supported the recommendation from Salt Lake County Health. President Brad Asay said he hoped more Utah health departments would follow Salt Lake County’s lead.

“There is a lot of anxiety among educators about what to expect. We hope and pray that there are no peaks. We fully support his recommendation for a mask mandate, especially for this age group. It’s the only way we can see right now to truly protect children and students at this age, ”Asay said.

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