City commission approved mask mandate

Two days after the Cloud County board of commissioners approved an ordinance designed to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in the area, that includes a mask mandate, the Concordia city commission followed suit.
The city commission, on a 3-2 vote, adopted an ordinance nearly identical to what the county passed that mandates the wearing of a mask or face coverings in public spaces and the enforcement of isolation and quarantine orders.
Commissioners Chuck Lambertz, Christy Hasch and Marsha Wentz voted in favor of the ordinance. Mayor Mark Matthew and commissioner Keaton Snavely cast 'no' votes.
Lambertz said that he understands there is significant debate on the effectiveness of masks, but that the vast majority of the medical professionals he personally knows tell him that the strategies that the commission was considering provide the best chance to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“If our medical professionals are saying ‘we need some relief,’ I think that we, as a city, have an opportunity to move forward in tandem with the county, in tandem now with the state, to do what we can as good neighbors, loving each other, taking care of each other the best way that we can.”
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced Wednesday several new steps that her administration is taking to try to slow the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, including establishing a statewide face-covering protocol.
Hasch said that she agreed with Lambertz on the need to pass the ordinance in tandem with the county ordinance.
“I don’t want to impose these restrictions any longer than we have to. On the other hand, I don’t want to shut down our economy. And I think those are really important things to consider. And it seems to be the simplest thing that we can do at this point,” Hasch said.
Wentz also voiced concerns about businesses having to shut down again if the spike in virus cases continues.
“I think it is important that we do everything as a community and as a commission, because that is what we were elected for, to help take care of our city and that includes people,” Wentz said. “And I think by having it run together with the county it gives our officers a lot better matrix to take care of the people who won’t comply. They aren’t going to stop just willy-nilly.”
Matthew said that he did not favor passing an ordinance in tandem with the county because it will cause confusion.
“If we are going to have a mandate, I would rather it be a county mandate for everybody. I am not in favor of having tandem mandates,” Matthew said.
Matthew also said that he believes the biggest focus of an ordinance should be the enforcement of those who are in quarantine or isolation.
“That is very important because those people are going to be out infecting people with masks and without masks if they are live and infectious,” Matthew said.
Snavely said that he has been researching the subject of masks since a special meeting of the commission last week when the possibility of a mask mandate first arose.
“What I have come to the conclusion of is that before COVID became the thing, that there are a lot of mask studies that show that unless you are using the N-95, they are ineffective,” Snavely said. “Unless we are going to put in effect that we must be using N-95 masks I do not see this making any change other than turning people against people, and we face enough of that in today’s society as it is.”
During a special meeting on November 10, the city commission adopted a resolution supporting public health efforts to mitigate disease spread within the community.
During public comments, the commission was urged by health care officials and some residents to consider a mask mandate.
The commission directed city manager Amy Lange and city attorney Justin Ferrell to prepare an ordinance for consideration.
Lange said during the meeting on Wednesday night that it is expected, by people complying with the ordinance, that it will help flatten the curve on virus cases.
During public comments, Dr. Justin Poore with the Family Care Center, said that things are kind of scary right now, and asked the commission for support.
“Everything we have been worried about for the last six months has pretty much hit and is happening for us. We went from having two rooms specifically to having four rooms specifically for COVID, and now we are adding another seven rooms for COVID,” Poore said.
Poore said he had talked to a friend who knows a physician in Pratt where they had a major trauma over the weekend and the closest place they could find to send them was Lubbock, Texas, which is 418 miles away.
“So things are pretty dire. We really can’t get anybody upstream. Pretty much the only way we are going to get you upstream to a larger facility is if you are going to need a ventilator,” Poore said.
Dr. Dorothy Breault, also a physician with the Family Care Center and the County Health Officer, spoke during public comments.
Breault thanked the county commission for passing a mandate.
“I really appreciate that, especially given our dire situation at our hospital as well as hospitals around the state and region,” Breault said.
Breault said that they look at COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people that are adjusted for the number of people in the county.
Cloud County is at 174 cases per 100,000. Washington County is 251 and Republic County is 188.
“We are all counties that were previously without mask mandates,” Breault said.
Breault compared those numbers to those of counties that have mask mandates, including Saline (83 per 100,000), Wyandotte (59 per 100,000) and Sedgwick (111 per 100,000).
“So population adjusted, we are doing way worse than they are in terms of cases,” Breault said. “This is support that the mask mandates do help decrease the numbers, help flatten the curve.”
Breault also said that, as of Wednesday, Cloud County had close to a 66-percent positivity rate on COVID-19 tests done over the past two weeks.
Also speaking during public comments was Dwight Whitead, the pastor at the Concordia Christian Church.
Whitead said that imposing a mask mandate is going to push some of those people who are in the peaceful majority into the radical minority.
“When you start taking civil liberties away from people, that is tyranny by the way, that is slavery, when you start taking civil liberties away,” Whitead said.
Built into the ordinance approved by the commission is a semi-monthly review of the COVID-19 situation to assist the commissioners with decision to rescind the ordinance at an appropriate time.
The ordinance requires that all persons in the city of Concordia shall cover their mouths and noses with a mask or face covering when they are in the following situations:
• Inside any indoor public space when social distancing at all times is not possible;
• In line and waiting to enter an indoor public space;
• Obtaining services from the healthcare sector in settings, including but not limited to, a hospital, pharmacy, medical clinic, laboratory, physician or dental office, veterinary clinic, or blood bank, unless directed otherwise by an employee or healthcare provider;
• Waiting for or riding on public transportation or in ridesharing vehicle; or
• While outdoors in public spaces, when social distancing at all times is not possible.
Also included in the ordinance are requirements for businesses, organizations and non-profit associations in the city which require all employees, customers, visitors, members or members of the public to wear a mask or other face covering when:
• Employees are working in any space visited by customers, members of the public or co-workers who are present at the time and social distancing at all times is not possible;
• Employees are working in any space where food is prepared or packaged for sale or distribution to others;
• Customers, members, visitors, or members of the public are in a facility managed by the business or organization;
• Employees are in any room or enclosed area where other people (except for individuals who reside together) are present and social distancing cannot be maintained at all times.
There are exemptions for the wearing of masks or face coverings in the ordinance which include:
• Persons aged five years or under, except students while attending school (children age two years and under should not wear a face covering because  of the risk of suffocation);
• Persons with a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face covering -- this includes persons with a medical condition for whom wearing a face covering could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a face covering without assistance.
• Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, or communicating with a person who is deaf or hard of hearing, where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication;
• Persons for whom wearing a face covering would create a risk to the person related to their work, as determined by local, state, or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines;
• Persons driving alone or solely with other members of their household;
• Speakers and presenters to an audience or congregation that can maintain a distance of at least ten (10) feet between the speaker or presenter and others outside their household;
• Persons who are obtaining a service involving the nose or face for which temporary removal of the face covering is necessary to perform the service;
• Persons who are seated at a restaurant or other establishment that offers food or beverage service, while they are eating or drinking, provided they maintain a six-foot distance between individuals (not including individuals who reside together or are seated together) with only infrequent or incidental moments of closer proximity;
• Athletes who are engaged in an activity that a professional or recreational association, regulatory entity, medical association, or other public-health-oriented entity has determined cannot be safely conducted while wearing a mask or other face covering;
• Persons engaged in strenuous physical activity, whether indoors or outdoors, provided social distancing can be maintained.
• Athletes who are actively engaged in organized sports activities.
• Persons swimming in a pool, lake or other body of water or otherwise engaged in activities that may cause the mask or face covering to get wet.
• Persons engaged in any lawful activity during which wearing a mask or other face covering is prohibited by law.
It is also stated in the ordinance that all persons in the city of Concordia shall abide by isolation orders and quarantine orders issued by a medical professional, county health department or Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Healthcare workers, first responders and others may be subject to modified quarantine orders for the purpose of continuity of essential services. Modified quarantine orders will be determined on an individual basis by the Cloud County Health Department.
Violating of the ordinance will be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $25 plus court costs for a first violation. That increases to $50 plus court costs for a second violation and $100 plus court costs upon a third or subsequent violation. Each occurrence of a violation of the ordinance shall be considered a separate and distinct violation.
Under the ordinance, law enforcement officers are authorized in their discretion to issue notice to appear citations for violations. Arrests shall not be made on the sole basis of violation of the ordinance
The ordinance, if approved by the commission, would go into effect after its passage and publication once in the official city newspaper.