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Kansas City, Missouri, City Council to consider extending mask mandate

KCMO gears up for mask mandate
Posted at 2:16 PM, Sep 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-20 15:16:16-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council is set to take up a measure later this week that would extend the city’s mask mandate.

The council approved a public health order Aug. 2, which requires masks to be worn within city limits in certain circumstances regardless of vaccination status.

The original order was set to expire on Aug. 28, but the city council voted to extend the order through Sept. 23.

With the deadline looming, Mayor Quinton Lucas filed a measure last week that would extend the health order until Oct. 7, which is when the current mask mandate in Jackson County also is set to expire.

The measure is set for review Wednesday during a committee meeting and could be advanced to Thursday's regular city council session.

Roughly 530 Kansas City-area residents tested positive for the disease on Sept. 18, according to the most recent data from the Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard. That’s down from 1,251 new cases reported in early August.

The seven-day rolling average as of Sept. 10 shows 561 new daily cases, which is down from a rolling average of 788 new cases in early August. Hospitalizations also have dropped from 139 new hospitalizations per day on Aug. 2 to 119 late last week.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued KCMO over the health order. Proceedings in the case continue.