Curfew and capacity limits for bars begin Saturday, under new Sedgwick County order
Defending an extension of Sedgwick County’s mask mandates and revised limits on operation of bars and restaurants, Sedgwick County Health Officer Garold Minns said Wednesday that the county risks blowing a halftime lead if it backs off efforts to contain COVID-19 now.
Minns drew the analogy of a Wichita State University basketball game, saying repealing coronavirus-containment rules would be like Coach Gregg Marshall telling the Shockers to go ahead and relax after getting ahead at the half.
“You’ve got to keep full-court pressure on this thing or it’s going to rear its ugly head again,” Minns said.
Under Minns’ updated order, which takes effect Saturday and ends Sept. 8:
▪ Bars and nightclubs can reopen at 50 percent of their ordinary capacity, but will only be allowed to offer curbside and takeout service after 11 p.m.
▪ Restaurants serving alcohol, many of which turn into a more nightclub-like atmosphere in the late night hours, will also be required to limit occupancy to 50 percent and fall under the 11 p.m. curfew.
▪ A mandatory mask order continues, requiring protective masks be used by employees, customers and visitors of any business or nonprofit agency, in areas where the public is allowed.
▪ The existing mask requirement continues to apply in industrial workspaces where employees cannot maintain 6 feet of spacing from each other.
▪ Masks will be required for children older than 5 years, a change from the current 11 years of age and older. This is consistent with a city of Wichita mask ordinance and the plans of Wichita school district USD 259.
The Sedgwick County Commission turned aside attempts to alter the order from commissioners Jim Howell and Michael O’Donnell during its Wednesday meeting.
A motion by Howell to keep the age limit at 11 and above died for lack of a second.
A follow-up motion to exempt schools and day care facilities died 2-3 with Howell and O’Donnell voting for the motion.
Minns said he feels the county still needs to have mandatory orders because voluntary guidelines failed dramatically.
“I would ask you to look back at what happened at the end of May,” Minns said.
That’s when the state lifted stay-at-home orders and the county opened all businesses to business as usual, while encouraging voluntary measures. Shortly after, community spread of the virus took off and county cases rose dramatically, Minns said.
“I assume there was a cause and effect there,” Minns said.
“It’s very important we keep working on this,” Minns said. “We can’t let up.”
Editor’s note: The mask age requirement for children was unclear in an earlier version of this story.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 12:31 PM.
