Despite recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for fully vaccinated people to drop the face covering, Langley will not be ditching its mask proclamation anytime soon.

The proclamation, which went into effect May 7, 2020, calls for people visiting Langley’s downtown core — defined as between Fourth Street to Seawall Park and from Park Avenue to Wharf Street — to mask up, even while outdoors.

The order does not apply to people traveling through the central business core in or on a vehicle or in their own private homes.

Last year, Mayor Tim Callison exercised his emergency powers as mayor to require the protective coverings. Langley was believed to be one of the first municipalities in the state to issue a mask proclamation.

But even in the wake of new guidance released last week regarding vaccinated people, city officials have decided to leave the proclamation unchanged — for now.

During a city council meeting Monday night, Callison and the council members discussed extending the masking order.

“If we were in a different community, structural-wise, I’d be all for saying we ditch the mandate,” Councilmember Thomas Gill said. “But with Langley the way it is — with small sidewalks, close quarters, businesses that open right onto the street that are already going to have the mask requirements — I think it would behoove us to keep it in place for the time being.”

Callison said he had received letters from a number of citizens asking for a continuation of the proclamation. The Langley Whale Center, which has 30,000 visitors every year, specifically asked for an extension.

Councilmember Christy Korrow also advocated for keeping the proclamation in place, pointing out that if the city stopped its masking order, it might make it harder for the businesses to enforce their own masking requirements.

“The last thing we need is to have an event where the spread of COVID happens,” Councilmember Craig Cyr said. “You don’t want to be the last person to get COVID. We certainly don’t want that to happen in Langley.”

The council members briefly discussed some modifications they might consider making to the proclamation at a later date, such as narrowing the definition of what constitutes the central business core, but largely they agreed to leave the proclamation unchanged for now.