Yesterday evening, a motion to overturn the mask mandate imposed by Salt Lake County Council failed in a 5-4 vote, with two Republicans voting against the motion, Aimee Winder-Newton and Chair Laurie Stringham.

We are deeply disappointed in this outcome and will continue to work with our local elected leaders to work towards revoking this mandate. We also condemn both Winder-Newton and Stringham for their roles in supporting the mandate despite opposition from their constituents. 

We, the College Republicans at the University of Utah, are not against masking but we are against government mandates. Masking has not slowed the number of cases and due to new data, most masks are not effective against the new spread of the omicron variant of covid-19. 

According to numerous media sources, masks are not infallible when it comes to preventing the spread of covid-19.  One scientific study that was reviewed by msn concluded that all masks, whether cloth or medical, are not likely to prevent the wearer from contracting this disease. Accordingly, it was concluded that “...even the surgical masks were found to be ‘poor’ at preventing the penetration of particles, and cloth masks were ‘extremely poor.’ Surgical masks let through 44% of particles. Cloth masks let through 97%.” Through the evaluation of such scientific studies, it becomes increasingly clear that mask mandates are not an effective solution to slowing the spread of covid-19 and its variants.

We encourage our members and members of the local community to reach out to the Salt Lake County Council and their local state representative in order to have the mandate overturned, which can be contacted here:

Salt Lake County Council Chair Laurie Stringham: 

[email protected]

(385) 468-7451

Salt Lake County Council Chair Aimee Winder-Newton:

[email protected]

(385) 468-7456