K-12 school mask mandate extended for two weeks by Kansas City Council
The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved a two-week extension to the city’s mask mandate in schools.
“We’re trying to make sure that Missouri’s teachers and school children are safe,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said Thursday before the council meeting.
It passed 10-2, with Councilmembers Heather Hall and Brandon Ellington voting no.
The legislation extends the order approved at the beginning of the year to run through Feb. 17, aligning the city with Johnson County’s health order.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners decided in January to continue requiring masks in school buildings up to sixth grade. That order will be reviewed in mid-February.
It applies to school visitors, staff and students over age 5 at schools in the city limits.
The proposed extension comes as area health officials say the omicron surge might have peaked, although a high volume of cases and related deaths continues.
“COVID cases here appear to be holding but it is no reason to let up on the gas as both cases and hospitalizations, though better, still remain higher than any other prior surge in the pandemic,” Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer for The University of Kansas Health System said during a briefing Wednesday morning. “We are not out of the woods yet.”
The rolling weekly average of new COVID-19 cases across the Kansas City metropolitan area was around 1,754 as of Wednesday, according to data tracked by The Star.
