Fargo Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney has issued a Mayoral Mask Mandate within the City of Fargo utilizing emergency powers. This expands upon those orders declared on March 16, 2020 and subsequently extended by the Fargo City Commission on July 27, 2020. Several COVID-19 Trends and Developments in Cass County precipitated this mandate including, but not limited to:
- Increased Hospitalizations
- Increased Death Rate
- Risk Level Escalation from Moderate (Yellow) to High (Orange)
- High Level of Community Spread within Cass County
- Contact Tracing Overwhelmed
- Fargo Cass Public Health Board of Health Recommendation
- Requests by 65 Pediatricians and the North Dakota Medical Association for a Mask Mandate
- Increasingly Negative Impact on The City of Fargo’s Workforce (Infections + Close-Contacts)
- Governor Burgum’s Recommendation for Local Control, as Necessary
The Mayoral Mask Mandate states: “Every person shall, within the city of Fargo, wear a face covering over the mouth and nose in all indoor environments where they are exposed to non-household members and where social distancing of six (6) feet or more cannot be assured and in all outdoor settings where there is exposure to non-household members, unless there exists ample space of six (6) feet or more to practice social distancing.
Although these measures are being mandated with the strongest possible recommendation, there is no penalty for non-compliance with this mandate.
This mandate shall take effect immediately and it shall remain in effect until the underlying state of emergency has ended unless it is sooner modified or terminated by the mayor or unless it is modified or terminated sooner by motion or resolution approved by the Fargo board of city commissioners.”
Mayor Mahoney remarked, “This is about science, not politics. This is our community’s health.”