Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas says mask mandate 'not necessary' at this point

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the COVID-19 delta variant showing no signs of slowing down, talks of mask mandates before summer's end are swirling.

"Every mayor of a major city in America right now is wondering if it's time to return to mandates," Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said during an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday. "We have thought at this point thus far that it is not necessary for Kansas City, as the secretary of commerce just noted, 97% of the cases that we're seeing in hospitals are from those who are unvaccinated."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance still states that fully vaccinated people don't need to wear masks indoors, but Dr. Anthony Fauci also said Sunday that changing the recommendation is "under active consideration."

"You're in a situation where we're having a lot of dynamics of infection," Fauci, chief medical advisor to the president, said. "So even if you are vaccinated, you should wear a mask. That's a local decision. That's not incompatible with the CDC’s overall recommendations."

Dr. Sanmi Areolo, Johnson County Department of Health and Environment director, told KSHB 41 News on Friday they're "not currently considering reinstating the mask mandate."

But his department did recently recommend that school districts require masks for non-vaccinated students.

Children under 12 years old are not eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and in Johnson County less than 40% of children ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated.

On Monday night, a handful of Johnson County school boards will meet and discussion the recommendation.

Two proposals are on the table in the Shawnee Mission School District.

One would:

• Have in-person learning.
• Recommend eligible folks get vaccinated.
• Strongly recommend unvaccinated people wear masks.
• Have all school bus riders wear a mask.

The other proposal:

• Requires masks for all elementary-level children until they are eligible for the vaccine.
• Allows staff who are fully vaccinated and working in those schools to opt out with proof of vaccination.

The push to get more young people to get inoculated remains ever urgent.

Following his appearance on "Face the Nation," Lucas tweeted, "Vaccines are coming the Gucci Mane concert."

The concert is set for Sunday, Aug. 1, at the Liberty Memorial.

A spokesperson with the National World War One Museum and Memorial said details are still being worked out, but they've hosted two vaccine clinics in the past and would support any future ones.