‘A minimal sacrifice:’ Another Johnson County city mandates masks to combat COVID
Following the lead of another northeast Johnson County city, the Roeland Park City Council on Monday approved a mask mandate to combat climbing COVID-19 cases.
Like Prairie Village — the first in the county to implement a citywide mandate — Roeland Park will require everyone to wear face coverings inside public spaces, in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 as the highly contagious delta variant causes new cases and hospitalizations to surge. The City Council unanimously approved the order, which took effect the next day.
The mask mandate will expire on Oct. 19, unless it is extended or rescinded before then.
“We all can do our part,” Mayor Mike Kelly tweeted. “This is a minimal sacrifice toward keeping our community healthy.”
The order includes exemptions for children under the age of 5, people with certain medical conditions and people seated, eating or drinking, at restaurants.
Prairie Village’s order, which also went into effect Tuesday, allows businesses to opt out of the mandate if they require everyone to provide proof of full vaccination upon entry. Roeland Park’s order exempts interactions or gatherings where parties have “actual or constructive knowledge” that all people attending are fully vaccinated.
Not abiding by the order would constitute a city trespassing violation, according to the resolution. Business owners or others would first ask violators to leave the premises. If they refuse, the business would contact the police department, which is authorized to remove violators if necessary.
Both Prairie Village and Roeland Park have approved citywide mask mandates following inaction at the state and county levels. Kansas City, as well as Jackson and Wyandotte counties, approved mandates, but Johnson County health officials have yet to recommend one.
Johnson County officials ended the county mandate in April, and since then have only strongly encouraged residents to wear them.
Instead, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved a mask mandate for public and private schools only. When students and staff are inside buildings that teach up to sixth grade, everyone must wear masks. In Johnson County, every public school district except Spring Hill has gone beyond that and required masks for all grade levels.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors, including in schools, in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is surging, including in Missouri and Kansas.
The Kansas City metro continues to report rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. In Johnson County on Tuesday, the positivity rate — the percentage of positive tests over the past 14 days — was 9.7%, up from 3.1% on July 1. The last time the rate was this high was in January.
As of Tuesday, 58.5% of eligible residents in the county were fully vaccinated, according to county health department data.
