Do we want another COVID-19 spike in Wichita? Then don’t drop the mask mandate

It was only a matter of time.

And sure enough, just days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted that state’s COVID-19 mask mandate — allowing businesses to open and crowds to gather at pre-pandemic levels — some county leaders here in Wichita are itching to follow suit.

Sedgwick County Commissioner David Dennis said he’s under pressure from constituents — 20 whole e-mails, wow — to lift mandates and reopen everything.

“I don’t know what to tell the people,” Dennis said. “I just need to know how to respond.”

Here’s what you say, Commissioner, as county health officer Dr. Gerald Minns so wisely reminded us Wednesday:

The pandemic isn’t over, no matter what politicians in Texas or Mississippi might say.

Masks, crowd limits and physical distancing are crucial to squelching the spread of COVID-19, particularly as local health officials discover more contagious variants of the disease.

Sedgwick County’s mandate needs to remain in place up to and after its current March 20 expiration date.

And leaders need to be smart and stay the course, not cave to peer pressure from our southern neighbors.

We’re so close to the finish line of our battle against COVID-19 — which, let’s not forget, has killed more than 4,800 Kansans and hospitalized more than 9,300.

Wichita is ramping up vaccinations, reopening schools and relaxing rules on bars and restaurants. After an especially bone-chilling winter, spring is in the air and restaurant patios are hopping.

We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Why risk another surge in coronavirus cases and make the tunnel even longer?

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned states this week against rolling back coronavirus restrictions, saying declines in COVID-19 cases have leveled off and now show signs of ticking back up.

“At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Walensky said.

“Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close.”

Texas Gov. Abbott and others have been careful to say that everyone should take personal responsibility and adhere to public health recommendations. Many will.

But many would see a walk-back of restrictions as a sign that the crisis is over and would ditch their masks. Businesses who want to continue requiring face coverings would face a new round of consternation and fury from some customers, and the rules would be that much harder to enforce.

How do we know? We’ve seen it before — and not so long ago.

Last summer, as COVID-19 cases exploded in the Wichita area and local hospitals sounded warning calls about the spread of the virus, the Sedgwick County Commission rejected Gov. Laura Kelly’s statewide mask order, opting instead for recommendations over rules.

That move proved dangerously ineffective, and when the county’s health officer ordered a mask mandate on his own authority, commissioners relented and let the order stand.

Since then, county leaders have extended the mask order several times. Masks became more commonplace in the Wichita area. Commissioners — even ones who once defied mask recommendations and crowd limits — started wearing masks during their meetings and elsewhere.

We’re all weary of restrictions and eager to return to our pre-pandemic normal. But now is not the time to let down our guard. We can’t be that runner who celebrates prematurely and gets passed at the finish line.

As we begin to see glimmers of hope and recovery, Wichita-area leaders must do everything they can to attack, control and curb the spread of the novel coronavirus — and that includes maintaining the mask mandate.

This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 11:25 AM.