Kansas City, MO – Mayor Quinton Lucas announced on Wednesday via tweet that Kansas City would return to wearing masks indoors to protect against the quickly spreading Delta variant of COVID-19.
The reinstated mask mandate will apply to both those who are vaccinated, and those who are not. reinstate an indoor mask mandate—for all persons 5+ regardless of vaccination status—in places of public accommodation, effective 12:01 a.m. Monday, Aug. 2.
The decision comes as both of Missouri's urban areas are seeing a surge in cases and hospitalizations that began in rural areas of the state, especially in southwestern Missouri - mostly among those who are not vaccinated.
The new mandate comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance on Tuesday to recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors when in areas with "substantial" and "high" transmission of COVID-19, which includes nearly the entire state of Missouri.
“I am fully in support of the recommendation of people being masked up indoors,” said Dr. Angela Myers, who leads the infectious disease division at Children's Mercy Hospital.