Waterloo’s Mask Mandate Extended; Mayor Hart Diagnosed With COVID

The city of Waterloo's mask mandate has been extended another 12 weeks.

The city council approved the resolution Monday night with a unanimous vote. The action taken by city leaders stretches the previously passed resolution into February, beyond the upcoming holidays.

"We are, as a community, not in a good place right now," councilman Jonathan Grieder said. "We are at a dangerous place with COVID."

"I am thankful for our city council not be afraid to put a mask mandate into place and not being afraid to speak up and in support overall of healthy practices," Mayor Hart said. "We're going to challenge other elected local officials to do the same too. Waterloo and Cedar Falls have a mask mandate, but yet we don't have our county Board of Supervisors. This isn't about politics. It's about safety."

On Monday, local health officials announced that Black Hawk County’s 14-day positivity rate was at 24.9-percent. The statistics show there were 206 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Black Hawk County Monday, increasing the total to 7,750. Since the pandemic began in March, 108 deaths in the county have been related to the coronavirus.

The Waterloo city council held this week's regular meeting via Zoom. During an online briefing, Mayor Quentin Hart announced that he was quarantining at home after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Hart said he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and “is on the other side of recovery”. Hart didn't reveal when he was diagnosed, but said he feels good.

The mayor asked everyone to "keep their hearts and minds toward his family, other families and people that are impacted by the virus."

Courtesy: WaterlooCommunityTv via YouTube