Utah parents plan to protest masks at school; 407 new COVID-19 cases reported

Utah National Guard soldier Ebbin Wyatt administers a COVID-19 at the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 8, 2021. Groups of parents plan to protest students wearing masks to school, as a public health order requiring masks remains in effect for public schools even as the general mandate is lifted. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

As the statewide mask mandate is set to expire at midnight, some Utahns are already aiming at decreasing COVID-19 restrictions further.

Groups of parents plan to protest students wearing masks to school, as a public health order requiring masks remains in effect for public schools even as the general mandate is lifted.

SeeMySmile.org, a grassroots organization backed by conservative parent groups across the state, was setting up rallies at school district offices Saturday to encourage parents and children to defy the rules at school on Monday — to walk in without masks and deliver letters and notice of their choices to administrators.

The organization claims that only parents “have the right and the responsibility to decide if your children wear a mask or not.”

The Utah Department of Health reported 407 new cases of COVID-19 in Utah on Saturday, bringing the total number of known infections to 389,760 since the pandemic began. it has claimed the lives of 2,159 Utahns, including two new deaths reported on Saturday.

The new COVID-19 deaths include a Salt Lake County woman between the ages of 65 and 84 who was a resident at a long-term care facility when she died, as well as a Utah County man between the ages of 65 and 84 who was hospitalized at the time of his death.

The state reports that 1.68 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Utah since December, including 32,887 since Friday. Among those are 668,371 people who are now fully vaccinated against the disease, according to vaccine manufacturer claims.

Nearly 1.1 million people in Utah have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

While parents are fighting masks in schools, state health leaders have said masks are still beneficial in helping to slow the spread of disease and encourage people to continue to wear them to avoid unknown transmission of COVID-19 and community spread.

Businesses, including grocery stores, hospitals and health care systems, as well as local governments, have the right to impose mandates as they see fit, according to the new law, and many have indicated that they will continue to require face coverings at their establishments. The law also requires masks when groups of 50 or more people gather together for an organized event.

This story will be updated.

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