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(Journalist)
– Kansas issued a mandate on July 3 that masks must be worn in public places. There was opposition and, as state law allows, 81 counties chose not to participate. The other 24 counties, comprising most of the population, opted for. Since the deployment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, the number of new coronavirus cases has dropped in counties that follow the mandate and continued to rise in counties that don’t. The CDC and the state’s health department analyzed data from a month before tenure began up to two months later, NPR reports. The average drop in cases in masked counties was 6%. Counties that did not apply the mandate got a 100% increase. The study was not random, and there may have been other factors contributing to the declines.
Yet “this adds to the growing body of evidence that extensive and widespread masking is helping slow the spread of COVID,” said a professor of medicine. Other states have had similar drops in cases after requiring masks. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Democrat, issued a revised warrant that comes into effect Wednesday, through the Hill. Under the ordinance, masks must be worn in public spaces, in healthcare facilities, while waiting for public transport, and outdoors if social distancing is not possible. Kelly’s office released a statement imploring the Kansans to wear masks, per WIBW. “This is how we can protect each other, keep our kids in school and keep our businesses open,” the statement said. Kansas reported 134,533 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,410 deaths on Friday. (Most virus spreaders have no symptoms, the CDC says.)
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