Cloquet mask mandate expires Friday

The mask mandate implemented by Cloquet elected officials a month ago will be allowed to automatically expire on its planned end date of Friday, Feb. 18. The expiration was ensured when Tuesday’s Cloquet city council meeting was canceled “because there was nothing that required council action,” said Cloquet mayor Roger Maki.

Maki said he implemented the original mandate — with the support of a majority of council members — because researchers at Mayo were predicting a surge in the Covid Omicron variant around Feb. 1 followed by a swift decline in case numbers.

“We were a little behind the rest...