KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During a meeting on Thursday, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners did not make any decisions on whether to follow recent COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Instead, those recommendations will be discussed at next week's board meeting.
Among the topics that will be discussed is whether or not to implement another mask mandate in the county.
At the meeting Wednesday, Board Chairman Ed Eilert said he was not in favor of implementing a mask mandate, however, he is concerned about younger children who are ineligible to receive the vaccine.
"We all want our schools to be open, to stay open. We want our students to be safe and especially those younger ones from 5-12 who do not have access to the vaccine. I've had many many communications with parents who are concerned with the safety element and their children returning to school," Eilert said.
During the Aug. 5 meeting, the board will also hear recommendations from the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment.
Eilert told KSHB 41 News that he specifically asked JCDHE to focus their efforts on those younger, school aged children.
At the meeting Thursday, Dr. Sanmi Areola, JCDHE director, presented recent information regarding the county's positivity rate and infections.
He said the positivity rate is currently at 7.9%.
Infections and hospitalizations are overall increasing among the unvaccinated, especially younger, school-aged residents, according to Areola.
Dr. Areola says infections and hospitalizations are increasing in those who are unvaccinated -- younger residents -- school aged residents.
— McKenzie Nelson (@McKenzieMNelson) July 29, 2021
Says JOCO is seeing outbreaks associated with camps, small businesses and childcare establishments
Some outbreaks are associated with camps, small businesses and child care establishments.
