Will Johnson County mandate COVID-19 masks? Officials call special meeting to decide
Update: A divided Johnson County commission voted Thursday to mandate masks in public. Story here.
The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners will meet Thursday morning to discuss whether to follow Gov. Laura Kelly’s order requiring people to wear masks in public as coronavirus cases continue to spike.
Chairman Ed Eilert called a special meeting for 10 a.m. Thursday — the same day Kelly was expected to release the details of the order, which takes effect Friday. County leaders have the authority to overturn the directive.
Before Kelly’s statewide order was announced, Johnson County officials said they would stick with “strongly recommending” the use of masks, even though Kansas City and other nearby counties — Jackson, Douglas and Wyandotte — issued their own mandates.
“One of the key issues, in my judgment, is how you can effectively enforce a mandate. If you’re going to mandate something, then you need to be able to enforce that, and I’ve seen no effective way to do that,” Eilert said earlier this week. “We continue to strongly encourage it. And I think we all need to understand that we have a responsibility to take action to mitigate the spread.”
“That kind of personal decision, I think, benefits everybody.”
Commissioners have been split on whether to mandate masks, an issue that has become increasingly politicized.
The local decision comes as coronavirus cases surge in the county, state and Kansas City metro.
“We know very clearly from the science, and a number of studies now being released that are unequivocal, that wearing masks … will dramatically reduce the risk of COVID-19 in populations,” said Joseph LeMaster, Johnson County’s public health officer, during a panel discussion hosted by the University of Kansas Health System on Wednesday.
Despite the county’s “strong recommendation” to wear masks, he said, “we’re seeing all around our area and in Johnson County in particular where that is not being followed.”
“So we’re not at a point where we’re kind of wringing our hands about what to do next, because the case numbers just keep going up,” he said.
KU doctors attributed the rise in new cases to the lifting of stay-at-home orders and the switch to making safety requirements mere recommendations.
“This is likely what we’ve been talking about, that as we reopen, as people interact more, as physical distancing becomes harder in certain circumstances, that we would see the spread of the virus,” said David Wild, vice president of performance improvement at the KU Health System.
Hospitalizations expected to rise
Since the economy was allowed to reopen in Johnson County, officials have reported a steady increase in new cases.
Wednesday afternoon, the county had 1,798 coronavirus cases and 87 deaths. That’s up from the 1,646 cases and 86 deaths reported on Monday. The county is averaging about 60 new cases each day, officials said.
The largest number of cases is now among residents ages 20 to 39, a change from previous months. In early April, the median age of residents who tested positive was 52. Now the median age has dropped to 41.
Despite the trend, officials said late last week that the county would not mandate masks, partly because the number of new hospitalizations had remained steady.
But LeMaster cautioned that hospitalization data tends to lag about two weeks behind new cases that are reported. And the county is “still struggling to get accurate hospitalization data,” as some numbers from hospitals and the state are “delayed and sometimes can be even missing.”
“Right now, the data is a little bit shaky on hospitalization,” LeMaster said Wednesday.
“There’s been a debate around the mandate. It’s a highly politicized issue, whether people should be legally required to wear masks,” LeMaster said. “If you’re going to do something as significant as putting an additional legal requirement on people, you really need to have some data to be able to support that. I think now we’re seeing that with the cases going up. The hospitalizations are soon to follow, I believe.”
“We fully anticipate a drain on our critical care resources and stress coming on that, not months from now, but days from now,” he said.
LeMaster said that “we’re now in a situation where it makes sense” to debate and make a decision on whether to mandate masks.
Officials divided on masks
County commissioners have often been narrowly split on issues of reopening the economy and whether to mandate or simply recommend coronavirus restrictions. Many decisions during the pandemic have passed with a 4-3 vote.
And it is still unclear how the mask debate will play out during Thursday’s meeting. Commissioner Mike Brown, for example, has been adamantly opposed to coronavirus mandates. In a Facebook post, he encouraged residents to contact the governor’s office “about this horrendous decision” to require masks statewide.
But Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick, on the other hand, said she supports the state decision, adding “I wish local governments had done this sooner.” She argued that mandating masks will help residents feel more comfortable visiting businesses.
“Even if people don’t believe the research that shows masks help mitigate the spread, I think they need to understand that by not wearing them, they’re actually really reducing confidence in our economic recovery,” Hanzlick said. “If masks are mandated, people will say I feel a whole lot more comfortable going to a store or restaurant or business.”
In an interview with The Star on Wednesday, Commissioner Jim Allen said that he would follow health officials’ guidance.
“I’m all for local control on issues. Mask or no mask, I think it should be decided locally,” Allen said. “I’m looking at the data, and the hospitalization and ICU use is not up. The medical director and health director were not recommending (mandating masks). But if that were to change, at that time, I would support requiring masks.”
A regular proponent of keeping the economy open, Commissioner Steve Klika said he was awaiting more details on the governor’s order, as well as guidance from county health officials, before issuing an opinion.
Concerns shared by commissioners include maintaining residents’ personal freedoms, as well as how to enforce such a mandate. A new state law removes the possibility of criminal charges for violating pandemic-related executive orders from the governor. Local law enforcement may have few options beyond encouraging residents to comply.
During Wednesday’s panel discussion, Tracey Osborne Oltjen, president and CEO of the Overland Park Chamber, said that preliminary results of a survey of members show about 70% of businesses require or encourage employees to wear masks.
But LeMaster said that health officials “feel a lot of frustration and alarm” as residents continue to ignore the social distancing and safety recommendations.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a Change.org petition, urging the county to mandate masks, had nearly 3,800 signatures.
“Why wait until the increase overwhelms our hospitals and costs lives to act?” resident Kathy Cook wrote on the page. “Acting now will prevent future stay at home orders and help keep our businesses filled because patrons will feel safe. This action is in the best interest of our citizens and the business community.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
