KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clay County will now make masks a requirement in public areas after initially giving businesses the option of whether to require them.
Beginning Sunday, face masks will be required in all indoor public areas in the county, which include grocery and retail stores, special events and public transit.
The order will remain in place through Aug. 23, the Clay County Public Health Center said in a news release.
County officials cited a 36 percent increase in active COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks as a reason for the mask requirement.
Officials also said the county has seen a 300 percent increase in hospitalizations related to the virus in the past 30 days. The average number of patients hospitalized daily has risen from 10 to 40, according to the health department.
“It is critical we take this additional step to require masks in order to slow down increases in cases, to avoid overburdening our healthcare system, and to avoid the disruption to our local economy that would come if we would have to return to stay-at-home orders,” Clay County Director of Public Health Gary E. Zaborac said in the release.
