How will Kansas City enforce its mask mandate and are you exempt? Here’s what we know

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the state’s COVID-19 outbreak is “a sign of great embarrassment” for Missourians during a virtual press conference about the city’s new mask mandate.

He said the new order is a setback, but one the city will try to fix.

Kansas City’s new mask mandate will go into effect next week. Here’s what you should know about requirements, exemptions and enforcement:

When does the mandate begin?

The order begins on Aug. 2 and will last until at least Aug. 28.

Who enforces it?

The Health Department will primarily be responsible for enforcing the order. Other agencies including the Kansas City Fire Department and the city’s Regulated Industries Division will provide support.

Lucas said the enforcement will be the same as it was with the first order, which ended in May.

“This should be dejá vu for some people,” he said. “We went through these steps before.”

Kansas Citians can report sick individuals at a workplace or elsewhere and those not complying with the mandate by emailing the Health Department at COVIDviolations@kcmo.org or by calling 311. Violating the order would be considered a violation of the city’s Code of Ordinances.

Masks are required in all “indoor spaces of public accommodation where 6 feet of “social distancing cannot be maintained.”

Customers who refuse to mask up can be denied service.

Businesses do need to provide reasonable accommodations that can include the following:

• “Allow a person to wear a scarf, loose face covering, or full-face shield instead of a face mask;

• “Allow customers to order online with curbside pick-up or no contact delivery in a timely manner;

• “Allow customers to order by phone with curbside pick-up or no contact delivery in a timely manner;

• “Allow a person to wait in a car for an appointment and enter the building when called or texted; or

• “Offer appointments by telephone or video calls.”

The mandate applies to all of Kansas City, including parts of the city in other counties. Lucas has been in touch with other jurisdictions, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and Jackson County in Missouri — together, they make up the CORE4.

Am I exempt from wearing a mask?

There are some exemptions to the mandate. Those include children under age 5, people with disabilities where masks are a “substantial impairment to their health,” people actively eating or drinking in a restaurant, or people who are getting a service that involves the face.

One other exemption: If you can verify that everyone in a room has been fully vaccinated, masks are not required.

How will the city reconsider the order?

According to the city’s frequently asked questions about the mandate, there are five indicators the city will use to determine modifying restrictions:

• “Sustained declines in the average number of new daily reported cases, both in Kansas City and across the broader metropolitan region;

• “Hospital utilization and ICU availability;

• “Percentage of the population that has been vaccinated;

• “The ability to trace, test, and isolate individuals who are potentially exposed to the virus, also known as contact tracing.

• “The emergence of new variants and new data on transmission and risks to vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.”

“I don’t relish a mask mandate,” Lucas said. “But I think this is what we need to do to keep our community safe, to keep our school kids safe and to make sure broadly that we reverse the the terrible trends that we’ve seen in Missouri, and unfortunately now in eastern Kansas.”