Mask mandate extended to Dec. 8

Nome City Manager Glenn Steckman on Tuesday an emergency order that extending a mask mandate until December 8. Also, the order includes that all cab passengers (over 3-years of age) and cab drivers must wear a mask when riding a taxi cab. Steckman said that with current infection rates in Nome, he extended the mask requirement but has no intent to limit bar occupancy. The emergency order reasons that the “entire State of Alaska including the City of Nome and the Nome Census Area are categorized as areas of high transmission of COVID-19 based upon current case counts as a percentage of the total population.”

The order requires masks for persons over 3-years-old, or young children who are unable to wear one without assistance, and exempts people who have a valid medical reason not to wear a mask. For everyone else, the a well-fitting mask covering mouth and nose is mandated when “indoors in public settings around people who don’t live in your household or communal spaces outside the home where physical distancing is not possible and in all places of business.” Steckman said the order extends to food stores, churches, restaurants, bars, city buildings such as city hall and the Rec Center, and other places of business. If a person declines to wear a mask for medical reasons, “the person shall make other arrangements to have someone buy groceries, pick up their mail.” Business owners can refuse service to anyone not complying with the mask mandate.

The order does not apply to the Nome School District as the district has its own oversight over mitigations and face covering requirements at its school facilities.

The City’s mask mandate has been in effect since Oct. 2.