Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas extends COVID-19 mask order
As some area health experts have recently cited concerns about rising case numbers, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas has extended its COVID-19 emergency public health order requiring masks to be worn in public spaces.
The order, approved by commissioners Thursday evening, is now in place until Jan. 6. It requires masks be worn in public places by most residents over age 5 regardless of vaccination status. The order covers all of Wyandotte County with the exception of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville.
Public health leaders revived the order in August, as many other local governments did, following a resurgence driven by the delta variant. The order has been extended one other time since then.
In renewing the order once more, area leaders say the county continues to see a vaccination rate lower than local public health experts want. As of Thursday, the number of people who had received at least one dose of the vaccine stood at 52%.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also considers the entire Kansas City metro area, along with most of the country, an area where the risk of transmission remains high.
Other mask orders applying to most public spaces have phased out or been canceled in many of the surrounding counties and municipalities in recent weeks.
Kansas City’s citywide rule ended on Nov. 5 after city leaders decided to only leave the requirement in place for public schools. Jackson County leaders last week narrowly voted to end a health order that applied to suburbs with the exception of Independence, which does not have an order. And Johnson, Platte and Clay counties do not have one in place.
Meanwhile, area health officials have begun to raise concerns with the upward trend of COVID-19 cases leading up to winter holidays.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, said in a briefing earlier this week that when people start taking off masks and going indoors they’re “going to get sick again and we’re going to see the increasing rise of COVID-19 numbers.”
“And that’s exactly what we’re starting to see, and I’m concerned,” Stites said.
For the Kansas City area, the seven-day average of new cases as of Tuesday was about 326. It jumped from 267 cases the previous week, and last month it was 242.
The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton contributed to this report.
