RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Council will meet for a special session Thursday to discuss a possible mask mandate.
During a press conference Tuesday, Mayor Steve Allender says it’s time because they are “between a rock and a hard place.”
Enforcement is going to be a challenge, the mayor said. Allender hopes it won’t be an issue and expects businesses will do their part.
Right now, masks are only required in city buildings. Sioux Falls is also considering a mask mandate, while the South Dakota cities of Huron and Brookings have put mandates into effect.
Allender was joined Tuesday by Rapid City Area Schools Superintendent Lori Simons and Monument Health doctor Shankar Kurra.
RCAS and Monument Health are struggling with staffing. Simons says as of Tuesday, RCAS staff members comprise 35% of the school district’s 158 active cases.
Allender says exponential growth in Coronavirus cases along with potential impact to the health care system factored into the decision to seek a mask mandate. Simon says schools are impacted greatest by the spread where ten percent of school staff are quarantined.
