KANSAS CITY, Mo. — City officials in Kansas City, Missouri, announced Friday that face masks will soon be required indoors in public spaces beginning next week to help limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across the state line, Johnson County health officials have no plans to follow suit at this time.
“JCDHE will continue to strongly encourage its residents to wear masks,” Johnson County Department of Health and Environment Director Dr. Samni Areola said Friday in a statement to 41 Action news. “However, we are not requiring masks at this time.”
Areola stressed that “masks do work” and said county health officials are monitoring hospitals and other metrics related to COVID-19 “on a daily basis,” but he doesn’t think a mandatory requirement is necessary at this time.
He even credited the behavior of Johnson County residents in echoing Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s oft-repeated call that preventing COVID-19’s spread comes down to personal responsibility.
“Johnson County residents have been diligent in following public health directives for containing the spread of COVID-19,” Areola said. “At this time, we will rely on the shared sense of responsibility to ourselves and others in the community as the primary basis for public health response to this pandemic.”
The issue of masks stands in stark contrast to three months ago when the government officials with the Core 4 — KCMO and Jackson County in Missouri along with Johnson County and Wyandotte counties in Kansas — announced a month-long stay-at-home order together.
KCMO will require face masks beginning Monday amid a rise in the new cases reported by the city and state health departments, but the surrounding jurisdictions won’t for now.
