KC mayor spent night checking bars for COVID-19 protocols. The results were mixed.
Having publicized his cellphone number, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has received a host of messages from residents about people not properly social distancing at local bars or in neighborhoods.
So on Saturday night, Lucas decided to check out it out himself.
In an interview with The Star Sunday, Lucas told of how he spent two hours dropping by or looking into about eight businesses throughout the city, including in the Midtown-Westport neighborhood, the County Club Plaza area and the 18th and Vine Jazz District, where he lives.
The mayor’s outing came days after a video circulated online that showed more than 100 people — most of whom wore no masks — at a Hot Country Nights event in the Power & Light District, prompting some to call for stronger policies.
One problem Lucas identified Saturday was semi-covered rooftop bar spaces and people not following public health advice outdoors. The city’s order requires that masks be worn indoors and mandates bars to serve 50% their normal capacity.
Lucas said most businesses were trying to follow public health guidance. He found “one bad actor,” as he put it, another that did an “outstanding” job following protocols, and a lot of gray area between the two.
“There was one establishment I went to that appeared to be following absolutely no protections in the slightest,” said Lucas, who did not name the business. “That was a bit on the disappointing side.”
At Kelly’s Westport Inn, the scene looked much different than it did a year ago: management removed a number of tables and customers were required to wear masks unless they were sitting, Lucas said.
“Those are the sorts of things that show they are really committing to stopping the spread of COVID-19,” he said. “You go to other places, you see a very different world.”
There was not much social distancing or significant mask wearing, for the most part, in outdoor areas, Lucas said. He called it the most concerning and informative part of the evening as a policy maker.
“Semi-covered rooftop bar spaces, in particular, were a weak spot,” Lucas tweeted, adding in another post that he was concerned about the growing number of house and block parties. “An externality of regulation is unregulated bars/clubs, which we have seen in areas.”
Lucas noted that Dr. Deborah Birx, the Trump administration’s coronavirus response coordinator, recently suggested mask wearing be expanded to outdoors.
“So we are really asking all communities, whether you are urban or rural communities, to really wear a mask inside, outside, every day,” Birx said Saturday while in Kansas City, Kansas, for a meeting with Gov. Laura Kelly. “Wear a mask. Protect one another.”
Under Kansas City’s emergency order, masks are required in all indoor public spaces where people can’t be six feet apart, such as in grocery and retail stores. The order also extends restrictions on restaurants and bars.
An outdoor mask order, Lucas said, is something city officials have considered.
“That is one area that could be addressed,” he said.
Bars in Kansas City are limited to serving 50% of their normal capacity. Restaurant tables must be placed six feet apart, and masks are required until patrons are seated and eating.
Most establishments have followed the indoor rule of 50% capacity, Lucas said. Others have not: an establishment on Broadway Boulevard recently had a party during which people were “dancing like it was 2019.”
“Several other places had what appeared to be full-fledged dance parties inside,” Lucas tweeted Sunday morning. “Mask requirements for indoor places of public accommodation at least for staff were generally followed, at least when I walked in.”
As of Sunday, the virus has infected 25,473 metro residents, including 374 who have died. That includes 7,649 cases, including 66 deaths, in Kansas City.
This story was originally published August 16, 2020 at 6:06 PM.
