County cracks down on COVID-19 ‘protests,’ eases rules on youth sports, party venues
In its latest COVID-19 regulations, Sedgwick County is making it harder for bars and clubs to host large activities and claim that they’re political protests.
But at the same time, county commissioners overturned their health officer’s attempt to curtail coronavirus spread at youth sports tournaments and party venues.
At issue Wednesday was the latest county health order by the health office, Dr. Garold Minns, dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita.
In the latest order, issued Tuesday night, Minns sought to close several loopholes in his earlier orders that have required widespread use of protective facemasks in public settings and placed curfews and mass-gathering limits on bars, nightclubs, venues and sports tournaments.
Minns’ changes include defining “bona fide” political protests as outdoor activities taking place outdoors on public property.
That would address one of the major contentions in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of local bars and anti-mask advocates, who have asked a federal court to overturn the county’s mask requirement and do away with occupancy limits and an 11 p.m. curfew on bars and nightclubs.
One of the lawsuit’s key arguments is that the COVID-19 pandemic has become politicized and that breaking the county rules in bars is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
“A face mask has become a symbol of an attempt by the government to gain control of its citizenry,” the lawsuit claims. “Forcing them to wear face masks is forcing them to convey a message with which they disagree.”
A local group called Unmask the Truth held a Dec. 5 protest of the county mandates that amounted to essentially an unmasked bar crawl.
They’re inviting residents to do it again on Dec. 19, a “rolling protest” of the county’s mandates by imbibing at four bars that are plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit: The Cowboy Inn Saloon, Revolution Lounge, Industry Old Town and Vorshay’s Cocktail Lounge.
The commissioners — three of whom are defendants in the lawsuit because they voted to restrict bars as an anti-pandemic move — let that part of Minns’ order stand without a vote.
However, commissioners did back away from stricter regulations on youth sports, a tourism generator that can draw hundreds of participants and family members to Wichita from across Kansas and out of state.
In his order, Minns proposed setting a limit of one spectator per participant at tournaments, games and practices.
He also proposed that indoor sports venue operators with multiple courts could only have scheduled games on half their courts at any given time, to put some space between the games and reduce the number of people in the stands.
Commissioners overturned both those changes.
They voted to allow up to two spectators per participant, consistent with local rules on school sports.
Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner argued that if enough parents couldn’t attend, “these venues would become care centers” for kids across a broad range of age groups.
He said parents need to be there to deal with injuries and other problems that can arise in youth sports.
“People want to watch their kids play and I get that too,” Meitzner said. “But just dropping off their kid and hope that after practice, or an hour later, you come and pick up the kid and things like that, that’s kind of why there was at least some push for some type of attendee per player, be it one or two or whatever it is.”
Commissioners also voted to let tournament operators host games on all their courts at once, as long as players and spectators associated with different games stay at least six feet from each other.
Those changes passed 5-1, with Commissioner Lacey Cruse opposed.
Cruse, who plays in a volleyball league at the YMCA, said that organization doesn’t allow simultaneous games on adjacent courts. She said if it did, the bleachers would be significantly overcrowded at two spectators per player.
“When you have four teams playing on two courts that are side by side, there’s not enough space,” she said.
For example, volleyball teams have six players, not counting substitutes, so there would be at least 24 players on adjacent courts at any given time. At two spectators each, that’s potentially another 48 in the bleachers, she said.
While she lost on the overall crowd limits, she did get her colleagues to agree to apply the same rules to adult recreational sports as youth sports.
All five commissioners agreed to relax a 25-person limit on venues that are rented out for weddings, parties and other events.
Now, those establishments will be able to host as many as 100 people.
Commissioners said given the size of most venues, they could easily host that many and maintain social distancing.
“These venues can have 3,000 or 4,000 square feet of space within them,” said Commissioner David Dennis, who proposed the change. “If you recall from some of the documentation we’ve received, they do space the tables out in there . . . they require masks. Unfortunately the way our order is currently written, it only allows 25 people in a facility that could hold hundreds.”
Minns wasn’t at the meeting, but Assistant County Counselor Justin Waggoner, who helped write his order, said Minns was concerned about venues.
People tend to stay there for a long time and generally don’t stay in their original groupings, he said. Instead, they mingle freely, potentially spreading the coronavirus throughout the room.
“At an event venue wedding reception, holiday party, any other types of activities where you may know most or all (the participants), you may go talk to most or all of those attendees,” Waggoner said. “His concern was those venues are higher risk.”
Minns did relax one thing in his latest order.
He clarified that public speakers, including preachers, could speak unmasked.
They would still have to maintain at least six feet of separation from their audience, or be separated by an impermeable barrier like the Plexiglass sheets between commissioners at their bench.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 4:12 PM.
