Face masks optional on Wichita buses and at airport after federal mandate lifted

Wichita travelers will no longer be required to wear face masks on city buses or in Eisenhower Airport, the city announced Tuesday.

On Monday, a federal judge in Florida ruled the 14-month-old federal transportation masking mandate unlawful.

“Due to today’s court ruling, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) January 29, 2021 Order requiring masks on public transportation conveyances and at public transportation hubs is no longer in effect,” the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement Monday.

The TSA dropped its own mask-related security directives, as did all major American airline carriers.

The relaxed restrictions come as BA.2, an extra-contagious version of the COVID-19 omicron variant, makes up more than 90% of U.S. cases, according to the CDC.

Sedgwick County sunset its COVID-19 dashboard at the end of March. The county also plans to close its COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the former downtown library and end mass testing at 4115 E. Harry by the end of April.

“I suppose the big question that comes to everyone’s mind is, are we over? Can we declare victory and move on?” County health officer Garold Minns told the county commission last month. “We would all like that. Everyone would like that. I think only time will tell.”

According to the New York Times vaccination tracker, 54% of qualified Sedgwick County residents have received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 12:12 PM.