‘It would just be a battle’: Wichita-area leaders avoid COVID restrictions amid surge
As COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations top record numbers in Wichita, local officials say there isn’t enough public support to issue any public health orders aimed at slowing the spread.
The Sedgwick County Commission and Wichita City Council signaled this week that they will instead continue encouraging people to get vaccinated, a long-term strategy that would do little to slow the current surge, as most COVID-19 vaccines aren’t considered fully effective until five or six weeks after the first dose (two weeks after the second dose).
About half of Sedgwick County’s population of nearly 500,000 is vaccinated, lagging state and national rates. A vast majority of COVID patients in the hospital are unvaccinated, county and hospital officials say. Hospital leaders for Wesley and Ascension Via Christi have said a swell in patients in the past couple of weeks is overwhelming healthcare systems across the state and could force them to turn away patients — those with and without COVID — in need of care.
“The spike that we see is driven by the folks that are not vaccinated and aren’t trying to protect the rest of the community,” County Commissioner David Dennis said Wednesday. “I don’t believe that there is a will right now in the community for a mask mandate, although a lot of people are saying that maybe we need one, but I don’t believe that there is a will for that.”
Dennis has voted against mask mandates in the past and said the state Legislature has tied the county’s hands in dealing with the public health crisis.
“What we’re seeing right now is that only a little over 50% of our population is vaccinated currently. And I don’t think that other half that won’t even get the vaccine would ever think about wearing a mask, either. So it would just be a battle. And I do not want to ship the battle over to the businesses.”
Dennis is not alone. Even past supporters of mask mandates and other public health orders say they don’t favor any mandates amid the surge.
Commissioner Lacey Cruse, one of the most vocal supporters of public health orders throughout the pandemic, said the county should at least talk about the problem and consider passing non-mandatory health recommendations.
“People are asking what are we going to do? Are we just going to sit on our hands or are we going to talk about this spread in this community and how people are getting really sick.”
“I understand there’s not an appetite in this community for any mandates. I get it,” Cruse said. “I don’t want to mandate anything. But in two months, we will be into the third year of this pandemic, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m really tired of this. I think we’re all tired of it. And we started at the very beginning talking about, what are we going to do to try to slow this spread to save people’s lives, and now with over 1,000 people that have died within our community.”
The City Council, which could institute a mask mandate under its home rule provision in its charter, on Tuesday signaled it would not immediately institute any restrictions but look for ways to bolster testing and marketing of vaccines.
“Basically half of the population that’s not vaccinated are taking up all of the beds in the hospital, that the whole population was taking up a year ago,” Commissioner Pete Meitzner said. “So my push is to still recommend that you get vaccinated and if you don’t want to, you need to be aware of your surroundings for yourself and all the people you’re around. And, you know, it’d be taking extra precautions, because you may not even know you’re carrying it and all those things.”
Commissioner Sarah Lopez said that with hospitals at capacity, residents should exercise extreme care in their daily activities to avoid needing to go to an emergency room.
“It’s a nerve wracking time,” she said. “So I would just suggest going forward, you know, beyond COVID measures — wearing a mask and being vaccinated — be extra careful when you’re driving. I mean, try to do everything you can to limit your ability to get hurt and to need a hospital bed right now, because there’s just not enough for everybody at this point in time.”
“It’s upsetting that so many people still don’t believe in this,” she said of the COVID pandemic. “And I hate that it’s going to take until it affects you personally but, you know, that’s I think where we’re at.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 3:15 PM.