Changing course, Iowa governor enacts limited mask mandate

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — With Iowa hospitals filling up, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds dropped her longtime opposition to a statewide mask mandate and enacted a limited version of one on Monday.

Reynolds signed a proclamation requiring that everyone 2 or older must wear masks when in indoor public spaces. The mandate applies only when people are within six feet of others for 15 minutes and they aren’t members of their households.

Reynolds also limited gatherings for social, community, business and leisure purposes to no more than 15 people indoors and 30 outdoors, saying the restriction applies to family events. Routine office and factory work and spiritual gatherings were exempted, although she urged employers and churches to take precautions.

Reynolds rejected calls to close bars and restaurants for in-person service and instead ordered that they cannot stay open past 10 p.m. She suspended youth and adult sports and recreational activities, except for high school, college and professional sports.

Reynolds announced the steps in a rare evening televised speech. She said they would not be easy or popular, but that they were necessary to fight a virus that was threatening to overwhelm the state's health care system.

“If Iowans don’t buy into this, we lose," she said. “Businesses will close once again. More schools will be forced to go online. Our health care system will fail and the cost in human life will be high. So now is the time to come together for the greater good.”

She said her new restrictions weren’t “about mandates” or government, saying there wasn’t enough law enforcement in the country to enforce the mask requirements or business restrictions.

Critics said they were too little, too late after the governor rejected calls for stronger...