Kansas City Opts to Force School Children to Mask Up

Kansas City, Missouri, is reinstating its mask mandate for children in K-12 schools following a city council vote approving the measure.

Council members on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to reinstate a mask requirement in schools, which will begin next week and last until February 3, 2022.

“When the school mask rule expired over one month ago, we found ourselves in a different trajectory as it relates to case numbers,” Mayor Quinton Lucas, who sponsored the move, said. He also warned that schools “may need to move back to virtual learning if mitigation strategies are not pursued,” which he said is something “none of us wish to see.”

According to the Missouri Independent:

During the first week of January, Kansas City recorded nearly 5,000 new COVID cases, near 1% of the citywide population, far surpassing any other week since the pandemic began. Statewide, Missouri reported a record 12,264 cases on Wednesday.

Lucas said in a press conference ahead of the council meeting that passing the ordinance would be a responsible step to keep children safe while allowing them to attend school in-person.

The ordinance places Kansas City in the crosshairs of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who on Wednesday announced he would sue St. Louis County for resuming its countywide mask mandate. St. Louis County’s order went further than Kansas City’s, requiring masks at all indoor facilities for individuals older than five.

The move comes amid the omicron variant, which Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted has a “decreased severity,” citing preliminary data.

“Multiple sources of now preliminary data indicate a decreased severity with Omicron.  However, we really do need more definitive assessment of severity with longer-term follow-up here and in different countries,” he said during a White House COVID-19 Response Team press conference this week.

However, Fauci said that is not permission to scale back from recommendations, and that includes wearing masks.

“So, don’t take this as a signal that we can pull back from the recommendations that you just heard from Dr. Walensky about the need for vaccination, for boostering, for wearing masks, and all the other CDC recommendation,” he added.