Counties across Kansas have been gradually reversing course since last summer, increasingly adopting new mask mandates as COVID-19 spreads rampantly across the state and Gov. Laura Kelly took steps to encourage them to reconsider earlier actions.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, almost half of the state’s 105 counties have put mask mandates in place, with many facing a 12:01 a.m. deadline on Wednesday to write their own law, adopt the governor’s mandate or opt out completely.
The governor’s order allows the counties to craft their own ordinance or fall under the umbrella of her most recent mask mandate.
The Kansas Association of Counties on Tuesday reported that 51 of the state’s 105 counties now have mask mandates, a significant difference from last summer when roughly 15 counties agreed to adopt the governor’s order.
The 51 counties with mask mandates cover roughly 2.3 million of the state’s 2.9 million population, including the biggest counties in the state.
The association reported that 24 counties have put mask mandates in place since the governor announced her revised mask order a week ago.
“Given the rate of hospital bed capacity and shortage of medical staff to care for COVID-19 patients in our Kansas hospitals, and the continued increase in positive cases, several Kansas Counties have implemented their own mask mandates…,” said Kim Qualls, spokeswoman for the Kansas Association of Counties.
It was unclear just how many of the 54 counties might come under the governor’s latest mask order, but Qualls said they would still have the ability to opt out even after the governor’s order goes into effect.
A number of counties did affirmatively opt of the mask mandate or adopt something less stringent as the deadline approached, according to the Kansas Association of Counties.
They included Pottawatomie, Osage, Cowley and Stevens counties.
The health crisis facing the state – and the country – has worsened since the governor signed her first executive order last summer.
When the governor signed the first mask order in early July, there were 15,919 cases of COVID-19. By this week, the state health department reported 142,059.
The number of hospitalizations climbed to 4,777 this week from 1,219 in July. The number of deaths has risen to 1,456 this week from 277 last July.
The infection also has taken a stronger hold in the rural areas of the state.
An analysis by the Daily Yonder — published by the nonprofit Center for Rural Strategies — showed that as of Sept. 6-12, there were 34 of 86 rural Kansas counties in the red zone, meaning they had an infection rate of 100 or more new cases per 100,000 population.
Only six had been in the red zone for more the five consecutive weeks.
The most recent Daily Yonder analysis for the week of Nov. 15-Nov. 21 shows that 84 of 86 rural counties in Kansas are in the red zone and that 54 of them have been in the red zone for more than five weeks in a row.
Now, hospitals are overflowing with patients as the number of COVID-19 infections surges.
The most recent report from the Kansas Hospital Association showed that 46% of hospitals were anticipating critical staffing shortages this week.
(Editors note: There was one county that was not included in the association’s report as adopting a mask mandate that accounts for the differences in the numbers.)
