South Iowa News

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is concerned that new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding masks could lead to government mandates requiring citizens across the country to wear masks.

The CDC recently issued guidance recommending that vaccinated people wear masks while indoors in areas reporting substantial or high transmission rates. 

Reynolds is "concerned" that the guidance could be a pathway for the federal government to mandate masks across the country, according to KCCI News. She added that the vaccine remains the strongest tool against COVID-19 and that she trusts Iowans to do the right thing.

Iowa State Rep. Cherielynn Westrich took to Facebook to voice her agreement that Iowan’s should be allowed to make their own choices without government oversight.

"We should decide, we should make our own healthcare choices and decisions," Westrich wrote in a July 24 Facebook post. "I trust the citizens of Iowa to make these decisions and I believe in healthcare privacy and choices."

The state of Iowa recently put new laws in place limiting what government mandates can be enforced in schools and local government.

The new advisory from the CDC is likely in response to surging number of delta variant COVID-19 cases. When the CDC lifted masks recommendations on May 13 for vaccinated people, the delta variant, first detected in India, represented only 1% of infections, according to The Wall Street Journal. The CDC now reports that 83% of current COVID-19 cases are of the delta variant which has primarily impacted regions with low vaccination rates.