With Governor Laura Kelly’s deadline for adopting mask policies or accepting the new statewide face-covering protocol Wednesday, several area counties made decisions on that front Monday.
Chase and Wabaunsee counties voted to accept the governor’s protocol, which includes mask usage inside any public space or in line to go inside those spaces and mask use outdoors whenever social distancing can’t be maintained among other steps.
Osage County, on the other hand, is “strongly” recommending mask use indoors and also outdoors when social distancing bubbles can’t be maintained. Osage County says it recognizes the significance of face coverings in slowing down COVID-19, but it also says mandates are “inherently unenforceable at the county level.”
Counties and municipalities that already have mask protocols, including Emporia and Lyon County, are exempt from the governor’s new policy.
Click here for the link to the governor’s executive order on the face-covering protocol.
