Associated Press
photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
A man wears masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as he looks at a holiday display on a mild day Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020, in a park in Lenexa.
TOPEKA Two northeastern Kansas counties are backing off mask mandates they imposed last month as coronavirus cases surged, and officials set up a clinic in an arena in the state’s largest city to vaccinate thousands of health care workers.
Against the advice of public health officials, county commissioners in Brown and Jackson counties dropped mandates requiring people to wear masks, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. But in south-central Kansas, Reno County commissioners kept a mask mandate in place.
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Multiple Kansas counties are backing off mask mandates they implemented last month as COVID-19 cases increased ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, with local elected officials arguing that they had weathered the wave of infections.
But they are doing so over the guidance of local public health officials and hospital administrators, who say caution is still warranted.
Commissioners in Jackson County voted 2-1 Monday to halt the mask mandate imposed in November at the request of the county s public health administrator, Angie Reith. They were joined by their counterparts in Brown County, who also moved to end their face covering requirement.