KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas is expected to release new indoor masking mandates on Wednesday.
“I will return Kansas City to a mask mandate indoors based upon national and regional health guidance and discussion with other Kansas City leaders,” Lucas said in a tweet Tuesday night. “I will provide further details in the morning.”
I have stuck with CDC guidance throughout the pandemic and today is no different.
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) July 28, 2021
I will return Kansas City to a mask mandate indoors based upon national and regional health guidance and discussion with other Kansas City leaders. I will provide further details in the morning.
A spokesperson for Lucas’ office said he will share the plan in a CORE4 call Wednesday morning.
Earlier Tuesday, Lucas told KSHB 41 News that it was important to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but noted that recent legislative changes at the state level are "unhelpful" in doing so.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who has repeatedly said he will not require COVID-19 vaccinations in the state, said on Monday that bringing back mask mandates "undermine" the integrity of the vaccines. His comments came the same day that St. Louis City and County officials reinstated masking requirements due to an uptick in virus cases as the delta variant continues to spread throughout the state.
In response to the mandates in St. Louis, Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit, claiming they are government overreach.
School districts throughout the Kansas City metro have delivered mixed results on mask requirements for the coming academic year, leading some parents to protest the mandates and others to voice concerns about how the lack of masking will affect children who have health issues.
In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CORE4 initially banded together in issuing guidance for preventing the spread of COVID-19. As the pandemic wore on, counties began to issue individual recommendations.
