MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Breaking from other Southern GOP governors, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended her state’s mask order for another month Thursday but said the requirement will end for good in April.
Following the recommendations of medical officials, Ivey said she will keep the mask order that was set to expire Friday in place until April 9. The Republican governor said before lifting the order that she wants to get past Easter and get as much vaccine distributed as possible.
“The bottom line is we have kept the mask mandate in place for more than a generous period of time because it has helped,” Ivey said at a news conference.
Medical officials welcomed Ivey’s decision after recommending an extension, arguing that easing restrictions before more people were vaccinated could reverse recent improvements. Alabama’s rolling seven-day average of daily cases has dropped from 3,000 in early January to below 1,000 and hospitalizations are at their lowest point since summer.
“This is very good news. This gives us a month to vaccinate more people and to get a better handle on the role of the UK variant,” said Dr. Don Williamson, the former state health officer who now heads the Alabama Hospital Association.
The governor noted the dramatic drop in daily case numbers and said the state is “rounding the corner” in the pandemic. She did ease a requirement that restaurants limit seating to eight people.
Dr. Ellen Eaton, who specializes in infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said schools and organizations serving people who’ve yet to receive a vaccine will need to “carefully consider how to proceed” once the order ends.
“For many, continuing masking will be necessary, such as in schools and colleges. But leadership in these spaces needs time to think through the health and policy implications of recommending masks in the absence of a mandate,” she said.
Ivey has faced political pressure to lift the mask order as some other Republican-led states have done. Texas and neighboring Mississippi are easing health restrictions as vaccination numbers rise and illnesses linked to the new coronavirus decline.
Some social media users were sharing the phone number to the governor’s office and asking callers to voice opposition to the rule. And the Alabama Senate approved a resolution Wednesday evening urging Ivey to end the mask mandate.
Republican Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth also asked Ivey to end the mask requirement, which he has opposed all along, saying individuals can make decisions for themselves and follow safety rules until vaccinations and immunity levels are sufficient.
“But we can do all of these things without a Big Brother-style government mandate looming over us,” Ainsworth said in a statement.
