T-R photo by Thomas Nelson Mayor Joel Greer is requiring all people to wear masks when inside city buildings starting Monday.

As Marshall County sees a rise in COVID-19 cases, the city has mandated the wearing of masks in all municipal buildings.

Starting Monday all persons going into city buildings will be required to wear a mask to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Joel Greer acted under the ongoing civil emergency declaration for COVID-19 and put forth a policy for both the public and employees to utilize masks in their interactions. The locked vestibules at City Hall and the Police and Fire Building will not be considered as being in the building for the purposes of wearing a mask.

The city will continue the policy until further notice.

The rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases spurred Greer to issue the policy.

Marshalltown is following the example of communities nationwide that have paused their reopening plans as the virus continues to spread and more people die.

This week saw an increase of 49.1 percent of active COVID-19 cases in Marshall County.

Greer does not see his authority as mayor extending further than requiring masks in city buildings or closing them to the public.

“In other states, the mayors have more power,” he said.

If cases continue to rise Greer said he will consider closing the Aquatic Center too.

“That’s one of the things the city has power over,” he said.

Other cities around Iowa have chosen not to open their city pools.

Greer has also contacted the corporate offices of Hy-Vee and Fareway to urge them to require masks.

“They could both suffer customer loss to Walmart and others if they don’t have a statewide corporate policy telling people they have to wear masks to come in,” he said.

Marshalltown has a large community of people who are susceptible to COVID-19, Greer said.

He strongly endorses the wearing of masks by citizens.

“I really wish I did have the power to order masks for anybody out in public,” he said.

Greer does not care for people who have been against wearing masks.

“They are not doing the research,” he said.

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Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com