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Coping with COVID: Northeast Kansas counties ease away from mask mandate issued last month

By Madison Parry

Two bordering Kansas counties located just west of the Kansas City metro have voted to drop their mask mandates. Brown and Jackson counties imposed a mandate in November, each choosing to rescind the requirement claiming they have already weathered the worst wave of infections.

Due in part to claims that they have already weathered a wave of infections as well as saying a mask requirement is technically not enforceable, two northeast Kansas counties have voted to rescind their mask mandates.

Brown and Jackson counties – two bordering divisions located just west of the Kansas City metro – each chose to remove their mandates issued in November.

The decision was made by county commissioners against a broader push from state and local health officials to leave mandates in place.

Jackson County Republican commissioner Ed Kathrens said it was “kind of ridiculous” to have a mask mandate that wasn’t enforceable, according to a report from the Associated Press.

In Jackson County, the commission voted 2-1 to end the mandate. “The people who want to wear masks are going to wear them and the people who don’t aren’t, regardless of whether you’ve got a mandate or not,” Kathrens said.

According to the Kansas health department, Jackson County had 1,001 coronavirus cases and Brown County, 1,000, as of Monday.

Brown County averaged 15 new cases a day while Jackson County averaged 12 new cases a day from Nov. 1 until Dec. 14. Now, Brown County averages eight new cases a day and Jackson County six cases.