‘People don’t want to be forced.’ How Kansas mask mandate became political tussle
A week into Gov. Laura Kelly’s statewide mask order, 4 in 10 Kansans don’t have to wear one because their county officials have overruled the mandate, forcing the state to confront rising coronavirus case numbers in a divided fashion.
At least 1 million residents are under no obligation to take a basic precaution public health experts say is one of the best ways to limit the spread of the disease. More than 90 of the state’s 105 counties have opted out of the mandate under a new state law that allows local leaders to follow or discard Kelly’s pandemic-related executive orders.
An analysis of public health data by The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle shows that six of the 10 counties with the most cases have decided against mandatory mask wearing. Nine of the 10 counties with the lowest rates of testing have also opted out.
Additionally, Ford, Seward and Finney counties, where the state’s meatpacking industry is concentrated, aren’t requiring masks even though about 5 percent of residents in each county have tested positive — by far the highest percentages in the state.
Even as new cases soar, reaction to the mask order demonstrates the difficulty in mounting a statewide public health response. The directive is the first test of the new law, which was the product of a bipartisan compromise between Kelly and Republicans.
The law allows counties to override statewide restrictions, but only after they consult with local health officials and declare on-the-record that the rules aren’t needed to protect public health. But those requirements have turned out to be little impediment to county commissioners intent on overturning Kelly’s order.
The result has been a jumble of mixed and contradictory messages, with mask rules varying county to county and many local officials touting the importance of masks while choosing not to mandate them.
“I’m not surprised. I think most of the local health officers aren’t, either, at this point. The mask issue has become political,” said Dennis Kriesel, director of the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments.
Of the 10 counties with the most coronavirus cases, only Wyandotte, Johnson and Douglas counties let Kelly’s order stand. Another top 10 county, Shawnee, adopted its own mask order.
The others -- Ford, Sedgwick, Finney, Leavenworth, Seward and Lyon -- all opted out of the mandate. The six counties have collectively recorded more than 8,000 cases, representing 47 percent of the state’s total as of Monday.
A handful of cities have approved their own mask rules, providing a counterweight to county decisions. On Wednesday, Sedgwick’s health officer, Garold Minns, issued his own directive, effective Friday. But county commissioners can overturn his decision. Wichita, the state’s largest city, passed its own mask order, so Minns’ directive would primarily affect Sedgwick’s outlying areas.
Manhattan, home to Kansas State University, Winfield and Parsons have also issued regulations. Salina also imposed its own mask order and Saline County on Wednesday afternoon decided to mandate masks beginning Thursday.
Nearly all of the 10 counties with the lowest COVID-19 testing rates have opted out of the mask mandate. Only Jewell County, which has a testing rate of 21.2 per 1,000 residents, left the order in place.
Asked Monday whether striking the deal with Republicans was a mistake, Kelly said it wasn’t. She pointed to provisions in the law that keep COVID-19 resources flowing across the state.
Kelly, stressing that Kansas is at a “make or break moment,” urged Kansans to listen to public health advice and wear masks.
“I can’t stress the point enough: this is not about state and local control, and it’s not a question of personal freedom,” Kelly said. “This is a matter of social responsibility while we’re dealing with the worst outbreak of a communicable virus in a century.”
Republicans also continue to support the compromise. House Speaker Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, encouraged people to follow recommendations from Vice President Mike Pence and federal Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, which include wearing masks.
But “we also know that a one-size-fits all approach doesn’t work, particularly in communities that have less than a handful of cases,” Ryckman said.
In a sign of how politically incendiary the mandate has become, a local GOP official and publisher of a community newspaper in Anderson County posted a cartoon depicting Kelly wearing a mask with a Star of David and people being loaded onto trains. The cartoon, with its allusion to the Holocaust, was widely condemned. The publisher, Dane Hicks, later apologized.
Order’s effect unknown for now
Whether the statewide order has a measurable effect likely won’t be known for another week or more. The mandate began last Friday and COVID-19 has an incubation period of up to two weeks.
For now, the virus continues to surge across Kansas. The Department of Health and Environment reported 17,618 cases as of Wednesday, an increase of 717 since Monday. The agency also reported 282 deaths, up two since Monday.
For months, Kansas had been an example of relative success in tamping down the virus. Kelly was the first governor in the country to close school buildings for the rest of the school year, and restrictions on gatherings and non-essential businesses cut the rate of spread.
But that advantage has largely evaporated and the virus is spreading more rapidly than at any point so far in the pandemic.
Lee Norman, the state health officer, tweeted Tuesday that Kansas was “a shining example of success, only to squander it.”
In overturning the order, many counties are sending potentially conflicting messages. Local officials are adamant that masks will remain voluntary, but are simultaneously emphasizing the importance of wearing one.
A decision in Ford County to opt out of the mask order was “not saying we are anti-masking or anything,” said Shawn Fletcher, assistant county administrator.
Home to Dodge City, Ford County has the state’s highest rate of cases per 1,000 people. But Fletcher said new cases have been “consistently low” in recent weeks.
Health officials acknowledge some people are skeptical of masks after they were warned against them early in the pandemic. That advice was driven by a desire to conserve medical supplies. But numerous recent studies indicate masks are effective in reducing the spread of the virus.
In Gove, a sparsely populated western county, commissioners voted to opt out of mandatory mask wearing. The same day, commissioners also decided to require visitors to the county building to wear a mask after someone came into offices and then tested positive.
“The majority of the people don’t want to be forced to wear a mask,” said Gove County Commission Chairman Duane Vollbracht.
But even in a tiny, rural county, the issue is divisive.
“Lets just put it this way, before we made the decision, my email was lighting up,” Vollbracht said. “It’s not an easy deal no matter which way you do it.”
Vollbracht said the commission still “highly recommended” wearing face coverings.
Ultimately, Gove County leaders believe they are relatively well positioned in the battle against the virus with only two confirmed cases so far. The busiest stores in the county are usually a Dollar General and a truck stop off of Interstate 70, Vollbracht said.
A farmer by trade, Vollbracht noted that the county is home to 2,600 people spread across more than 1,000 square miles.
“I’m out here in the tractor or combine pretty often,” he said. “It’s pretty easy to social distance on my part.”
‘Mixed messaging’ on masks
Commissioners in Montgomery County in Southeast Kansas didn’t opt out of the order. But in a news release, officials only recommended residents “attempt to abide by the governor’s protocols.”
Rick Whitson, the county’s emergency management director, said on Facebook that the governor’s order was not enforceable.
“Masks are not mandated,” he wrote, “they are recommended. A mandate isn’t a mandate without some level of enforcement.”
That may explain why few people are wearing masks when in public
“There’s just a lot of mixed messaging with everything,” said Andy Taylor, editor of the Montgomery County Chronicle.
He wasn’t aware of non-healthcare businesses in the area requiring masks but said a few stores had offered discounts to those wearing them. The local fair season has just begun. While some have offered masks to fairgoers, Taylor said they won’t be required.
The Reno County Commission appeared to agree with local health officials that mask wearing is important. Still, in a July 2 meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to repeal the mandate.
Commissioner Ron Hirst readily acknowledges masks are a way to help slow the spread of the virus.
“But I don’t think that we can put a burden on our sheriff and our health department to try to even think about enforcing this,” he said at the meeting. “Therefore in my opinion, it’s up to the public to look out after their neighbors. And they should pay attention to this.”
Still, a mandate that can’t be enforced may be better than none at all, according to Kriesel.
“Overall, the thought is you get higher compliance if you call it a mandate, even if there aren’t enforcement pieces,” Kriesel said. “You stop at a red light when there’s no traffic and a lot of people do even though they know they’re not going to get in an accident because, well, that’s what the law says.”
The Winfield City Commission had been meeting virtually. But on Monday, the body met on a stage at Island Park to discuss a controversial local mask ordinance after Cowley County opted out of the statewide order.
“We just felt like we wanted to do whatever we could to help keep the virus from spreading even further,” said Mayor Phil Jarvis.
The three commissioners unanimously supported a mask mandate set to run until August 13. Violators can face fines of up to $100, though the mayor acknowledged it will be difficult to enforce. Jarvis, who is retired but works part-time at the local Walmart, said only about a quarter of people currently wear masks while shopping.
Already, a petition is circulating online to challenge the ordinance, which goes into effect on Friday. And some locals have vowed to drive out of town to do their shopping elsewhere. The mayor said the issue would have been better handled statewide.
“I would have liked to have seen the mask order be for everybody in Kansas,” he said. “And I think that would have gone a long way towards at least slowing down the spread of the virus in Kansas.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 4:49 PM.