On Monday, Sept. 21, the Waterloo City Council approved a six-week extension of the citywide mask mandate.

The mandate, which was originally passed in late August, would have expired at the end of September. It will now be in place until early November, at which time it will once again be up for reconsideration.

Under the terms of the mandate, citizens over the age of two must wear masks inside public buildings when social distancing isn’t possible, including on private or public transportation.

Less than 24 hours later, however, the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors did not approve a county-wide mask mandate.

The Black Hawk County Board of Health had approved the mandate unanimously on Sept. 2 in a special meeting, when it was sent to the Board of Supervisors for approval. However, it did not pass during the Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

According to a Sept. 22 story from KWWL, County Supervisor Chair Chris Schwartz supported the mandate, but it failed due to a lack of a second motion.

The City of Cedar Falls also has a mask mandate, which was implemented on Sept. 8. Like the Waterloo mandate, it is currently set to expire after six weeks, in mid-October. However, the Cedar Falls mandate only requires citizens aged five and older to wear face coverings, as opposed to two years and older in Waterloo.