Sedgwick County commissioners have voted to opt out of an executive order issued by Kansas governor Laura Kelly in July requiring face masks in schools.
Commissioners found that the order duplicates other health orders that have been issued by the county and the city of Wichita and would not be necessary to protect the public health and safety. Assistant county counselor Justin Waggoner said the city and county orders also allow for face shields instead of face masks, but the governor’s order does not. He said youngsters 6 and older would still be required to wear face masks in schools, and school districts can still follow the governor’s order if they choose to.
The county’s health officer, Dr. Garold Minns, said face shields were designed to protect health care workers. He said for people who can’t tolerate a mask, a face shield would be better than nothing although it doesn’t provide the same protection as a mask. He said for people who are hearing-impaired and need to lip read, there are masks with a transparent area that would allow for that.
The governor’s order calls for temperature checks and hand sanitizing, which are not in the local orders. Commissioner Jim Howell said schools can be trusted to make decisions on those steps and they don’t need a mandate from government.
Commissioners voted 4-1, with Michael O’Donnell voting no, to opt out of the governor’s executive order.
Howell made a motion to have a vote on Dr. Minns new health order that went into effect Wednesday and runs through October 21st. The motion did not get a second so it failed, and that means the order will go into effect without changes. It requires face masks in public places and still required bars and nightclubs to close at 11 p.m. A bar owner asked commissioners in Wednesday’s meeting to allow bars and clubs to stay open later. Dr. Minns told commissioners that he continues to review data on COVID-19 and could ease the restrictions on October 21st or sooner. He told commissioners that numbers are continuing to improve, with hospital admissions down, the number of new cases per 100,000 going down and the percentage of positive cases down from a high of over 14 percent to just below 8 percent.
Dr. Minns said he wishes the order could be relaxed or suspended, but the virus is still in the community and he is still concerned about the impact of schools starting classes, the Labor Day holiday and sports activities. He said if numbers continue to look good by October 21st the county could look at relaxing some of the restrictions. He said data shows that masks have helped to slow the spread of the virus.
