KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas mask mandate took effect Friday. With mixed feelings on masks, some counties are following the order while others are not.
Business owners in Johnson County tell 41 Action News they’re feeling the tension. Patrick Copley is the owner of Club Pilates in Overland Park where masks are required.
“Some of them do want to wear the masks, others don’t so it’s really kind of putting me in the middle of it,” Copley said.
On Monday, Governor Laura Kelly announced masks would be required statewide in public places both indoors and outdoors where 6 feet of social distancing is not possible.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to adopt the order.
“We cannot afford to not control this now, if we don’t the impact will be huge as we have seen in other places,” said Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment.
In other parts of Kansas, Miami and Leavenworth counties voted to make face coverings voluntary. The chairman of the Miami County Board of Commissioners told 41 Action News that 90 percent of people were not in favor of face coverings.
“I had 4 to 5 business owners, most of the restaurant owners, call me saying 'You know if we get shut down again, we’re not going to open back up,' and these are businesses that have been here a long, long time,” Miami County Commissioner Phil Dixon said.
Dixon also stated that the mandate is not enforceable, meaning people cannot be ticketed or denied entry into a business if they’re not wearing a mask. Counties following the mandate can refuse business to those not wearing a face covering.
