Kansas City area ‘doesn’t have appetite for mask mandate.’ Is a mask advisory enough?
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Kansas City area health officials are hoping that last week’s joint health advisory again recommending members of the public wear masks will serve as a wake-up call for people to protect themselves from COVID-19.
They wanted the advisory to give clear guidance on how people should protect themselves and people around them.
“The data continues to support that the best way to protect yourself from severe COVID disease is to become fully vaccinated,” said Janell Friesen, a spokeswoman for the Unified Government’s Public Health Department. “Therefore, we strongly urge those who are not vaccinated to do so immediately.”
They chose an advisory over a mandate because at this time there’s not much appetite for further restrictions.
“Mask mandates are unpopular,” Frank Thompson, deputy director of the Kansas City Health Department said. “The motivation to wear a mask needs to come from somewhere else other than a mandate.”
Besides, vaccinated people remain at a much lower risk from the COVID virus, even from the delta variant, he said. Their risk is directly related to the overall low vaccination levels.
“You’ve probably heard, ‘This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,’” Thompson said. “The higher level of risk for unvaccinated persons does not support issuing a mask mandate for all.”
A new Missouri law curbing the power of local health departments during pandemics for the most part also leaves it up to local elected officials to decide when to issue a mask mandate.
The health advisory came a day after the Kansas City Council approved a resolution requiring the health department to be more aggressive in addressing the Delta variant.
“At this point we have not made any recommendations to our mayor and city council about a mask mandate,” Thompson said.
Is the advisory enough?
Health officials hope that people see the rising number of COVID cases and deaths and respond appropriately.
“We are counting on the good hearts of the people who live and work in Kansas City to protect themselves and each other,” Thompson said. “We are hopeful the unvaccinated will take the vaccine or wear their mask for those who can’t take the vaccinnes: young children or those with a chronic health condition.”
Thompson said he hopes that occurs before schools are forced to closed because unvaccinated children come down with COVID and hospitalizations rise among various ages.
The advisory has already had an effect, at least in Wyandotte County, health officials said.
“We see people are already beginning to take more steps to protect themselves and others, and we believe this advisory will encourage folks to continue taking measures to reduce the spread of the virus,” Friesen said.
She declined to speculate if a mandate was issued, whether people would follow it.
“We can tell you that previous mask mandates in our community and around the country earlier in the pandemic resulted in an increased mask wearing and helped reduce the spread of the virus,” she said.
In addition to urging everyone 12 years old and older to get fully vaccinated, the health advisory issued last week indicates that unvaccinated individuals should wear a mask while visiting indoor public places, in crowded outdoor settings and for activities with close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.
Those not fully vaccinated should also mask up if they will be in close contact with other unvaccinated individuals.
Vaccinated and unvaccinated people with underlying medical conditions should wear masks around those of unknown vaccination status.
“The advisory is more about increasing education and raising awareness than strictly compliance,” said Christina Heinen, health director for Independence. “Anecdotally, we’ve already seen some change behavior and start wearing masks again.”
Heinen echoed that health officials felt the region doesn’t have an appetite for a mask mandate and that legislation passed in Missouri limits the steps health officials can take to respond to a health emergency.
A week prior to the joint health advisory, Independence issued its own advisory encouraging everyone, no matter their vaccination status, to wear a mask while indoors at public spaces. It also urged people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Masking is an effective way to prevent illness, especially in those who are not able to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Sanmi Areola, Johnson County’s public health director, “As cases begin to increase, asking people to wear a mask is the best way to go at this point.”
He is hoping there is “quite a bit” of compliance with the new joint health advisory.
The return of mandates?
As for whether mask mandates could return, he said there are many factors that would go into that decision.
Currently, the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, is “recommending the wearing of masks for those in K-12 schools who have not been fully vaccinated.”
Steps to slow the spread of the new variant will be something health officials and local leaders will have to continue to watch.
“It’s changing week by week and I think that states and counties and local governments are going to have to take a hard look at their community numbers and make changes based of what might be needed,” said Lance Williamson, Infection Prevention and Control Nurse supervisor at The University of Kansas Health System, during a daily medical update on Monday.
Los Angeles became one of the first big cities to re-implement a mask mandate when it did so over the weekend. If the number of new cases and deaths keep increasing, communities will need to make changes in addition to getting people vaccinated based off what they know works to prevent the spread of the virus, he said.
“We know masking is a really easy way to stop the transmission,” Williamson said. “So, especially when you’re unsure of the unvaccinated people in an area, it’s just easier to have everyone wear a mask.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2021 at 5:18 PM.
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