As COVID cases spike, KC mayor says no current plans to reinstate broad mask mandate
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said Thursday that no plans are currently in place to reinstate a citywide mask mandate.
The comment came as Lucas prepares to propose an ordinance to bring back a mask mandate in K-12 schools as case counts spike across the metro.
On Tuesday, the average number of new COVID-19 cases in Kansas City metro reached a record high, with a seven-day average topping 2,100 per day, according to data maintained by The Star. The region has now seen more than a quarter of a million total cases since the pandemic began.
Lucas said while his office continues to consider the possibility of bringing back the broader mandate, there were challenges with enforcing the mandate in the past.
“This is not to say that we will never do one in the future, it’s not to cast dispersion on anyone else’s, but we’ve found ourselves spending a lot of time enforcing and chasing after a few bad actors,” Lucas said before Thursday’s City Council meeting.
Asked if there’s an exact case count or threshold that would prompt him to propose reinstating the citywide mask mandate, Lucas said no. But if he continues to see dramatic increases in hospitalizations or a significant increase in death rates, then Lucas said he may consider it again.
His decision to propose the new school mandate came after a “dramatic spike ” in cases has been documented over the past several days in both Kansas City and around the country.
“When the school mask rule expired over one month ago, we found ourselves in a different trajectory as it relates to case numbers,” he wrote in a letter to colleagues Thursday. “At our schools now, teachers, staff, bus drivers, and students are being impacted deeply by COVID, leading to concern that schools may need to move back to virtual learning if mitigation strategies are not pursued—something none of us wish to see.”
If the ordinance passes by a simple majority vote, the mask requirement will go into place beginning at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. It will be set to expire on Feb. 3. Missouri law limits the order to 30 days at a time.
The ordinance would apply to public and private schools, though some religious exemptions exist.
The previous school mask mandate was in place in Kansas City through the end of last year. Most students returned to school from winter break this week.
On Monday, Lucas joined school leaders to discuss a “diversity of opinions” on how to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in schools. He said the proposed mandate will be a way to ensure consistency in COVID-19 protocols among both public, private and charter schools.
The ordinance, as Lucas described it, takes a “very narrowly-tailored approach.” He said this was in part to better withstand a potential lawsuit from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who has been challenging local mask mandates.
“I think that his lawsuits are counter-productive, anti-public health and fundamentally undermine everyone who is working hard to keep young people, old people, everyone in Missouri safe,” Lucas added.
In a letter to his colleagues Thursday, Lucas noted that North Kansas City extended its mandate earlier this week.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners on Thursday afternoon agreed to continue a mask mandate for students up to the sixth grade.
“I am hopeful that we don’t have to see a continuation of this order,” Lucas said. “Nobody wants to see a mandate going on forever. Nobody wants to see these sort of restrictions. That said, we want to make sure that everybody stays safe and that our schools can stay open.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 3:05 PM.
