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Mask critics lose appeal over powers of health officers

A KN95 mask and a surgical mask.
Photo illustration by Max Posner/NPR
A KN95 mask and a surgical mask.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (AP)— The Michigan appeals court is reinforcing the authority of local health officers to give orders.

The case involved COVID-19 masks for young students in Ottawa County in 2021. The appeals court says county health officers don’t need approval from elected officials to issue orders.

COVID-19 mask orders were controversial when Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration left key decisions to local health departments. Critics in some parts of Michigan had pleaded with county commissioners to stop mask orders.

There's no longer a mask mandate in Ottawa County. But the appeals court said it still was important to issue an opinion and set a legal standard.

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