Jackson County reinstates COVID-19 mask order as delta variant takes toll in Missouri
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Kansas City COVID-19 news
As the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus surges across the Kansas City region, officials, hospitals and communities have had to react. Here is our latest coverage.
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Jackson County announced Wednesday plans to reinstate its mask order, effective Monday, in response to a recent rise in COVID-19 cases.
The public health order issued by County Executive Frank White requires everyone age 5 or older to wear masks inside public places, whether or not they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
The restrictions apply to all public spaces in rural parts of the county and cities other than Kansas City and Independence, which have their own health departments that set the rules. Kansas City recently imposed a citywide mask order, while Independence limited its mask requirements to all buildings owned or controlled by city government, such as City Hall, the Truman Memorial Building and Cable Dahmer Arena.
A new state law limits the Jackson County order to 30 days. Extending it would require approval from the County Legislature.
“I take no joy in making this announcement today,” White said in a prepared statement, “and quite frankly, am saddened that despite our best efforts, this virus is taking a devastating toll on our county, region and nation once again.”
The county’s health department says that daily new cases of the virus have nearly tripled over the last month, from a seven-day average of 43 cases the week of June 27 to 118 cases the week of July 25.
Hospitalizations across the region are up 75 percent, to levels not seen since January, and all nine people who died of COVID-19 at Truman Medical Centers the past two weeks were unvaccinated, the county said in a news release.
Along with other local jurisdictions, the county had ended its COVID-19 restrictions nearly three months ago in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said back in May that people who were fully vaccinated need not wear a mask inside or outside under most circumstances.
But on July 27, the CDC reversed course as transmissions and hospitalizations began to spike in Missouri and other areas where many residents had chosen not to get the shots and were subsequently infected with the highly transmissible delta variant now sweeping the nation and other parts of the world.
The federal agency now advises that even people who have received the vaccine wear a mask indoors in areas of substantial or high transmission “to maximize protection from the delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others.”
Vaccinated people can spread the virus, even if they show no symptoms. Some also get sick also from it, although it is rare for those who have gotten the shots to require medical care. People who haven’t been vaccinated, however, are at much greater risk and are now filling emergency rooms and intensive care units across the country.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt recently sued Kansas City and St. Louis County for reimposing their mask orders.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 3:16 PM.
