Boise Mayor Lauren McLean is lifting the face covering requirement for events and city buildings. The mayor is also easing other COVID-19 safety policies to reflect the State of Idaho’s case data which shows Ada County as a medium-risk area. These updates will be effective Monday, March 7.
“I have always been committed to ensuring that each city employee and every resident who walks into our buildings or attends an event with their family can feel safe. COVID-19 numbers are down and staying down, which means I can make this change,” said Mayor McLean. “We didn’t get here by accident. I’d like to thank everyone who was willing to think of their community, maintain physical distancing, and simply put on a mask when going into a public building. Together, we helped make this a safer and healthier city for everyone.”
Boise City Hall never closed, and the city’s services were never interrupted. In the past seven months, as the Delta and Omicron waves surged, city staff:
- Hosted more than 27,000 visits to after school community centers
- Helped more than 1,600 families make rent
- Had over 260,000 visits to Boise Public Library locations
- Processed nearly 7,500 building permits
- Welcomed more than 130,000 guests to Zoo Boise
- Enrolled more than 14,000 participants in recreational programs
- Police officers and firefighters responded to tens of thousands of calls for service
City staff stayed on the cutting edge to keep people safe. For instance, Boise was one of the first cities in the country to use wastewater testing to track COVID-19 spread. Strategies like this also helped save hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. In an expert review of Boise’s costs, cities similar to its size spent 3-5 times as much on Covid-related health insurance payouts.
The complete list of updates to the COVID-19 safety policies are:
- Face masks in city facilities are optional for staff and visitors.
- These include Boise City Hall, City Hall West, all locations of the Boise Public Library, recreation facilities, water renewal facilities and city office buildings.
- Masks are still required at Boise Airport due to federal guidelines.
- Physical distancing requirements are no longer in effect.
- Gathering size limitations are no longer in effect.
- COVID-19 special event requirements are no longer required.
The City of Boise will continue to monitor the COVID-19 health crisis and consult with state and local health officials to quickly change or modify health orders as needed.
Please get vaccinated if you can and continue to do your part to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community.