Missoula City County Health Officer Ellen Leahy made it official on Monday: The mask mandate has been lifted, and the masks that were once required and now only recommended.
Missoula County is very close to reaching the 60 percent goal of changing the mask mandate to a recommendation, according to Health Officer Ellen Leahy.
Earlier this week, attorneys with Stand Up Montana and the Missoula City County Health Department met before District Judge Jason Marks to set a date for a hearing in a lawsuit challenging the ‘mask mandate’ set by Health Officer Ellen Leahy.
Despite the fact that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte announced that the statewide mask mandate will be allowed to expire on Friday, the mandate will remain in place in Missoula County, according to the City County Health Department.
At his first press conference on Tuesday, Governor Greg Gianforte said he would be revising the state’s protocols for vaccine distribution and set new parameters for ending the state masking mandate.
At a press conference in Helena on Tuesday, Montana Governor Steve Bullock announced that he was tightening restrictions on mask wearing and public gatherings statewide.