JOHNSON COUNTY — The Johnson County Community Health Services Board of Trustees decided to lift the county’s face covering mandate and replace it with a public health advisory after a 4-1 vote at the Thursday, March 25 board meeting.
The county-wide public health advisory replacing the face covering order will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 26.
School districts, businesses and other organizations will still have the right to require masks on their properties, but it will not be required by the county.
The public health advisory continues to recommend safety protocols such as wearing a face covering, social distancing and hand washing.
At the Board of Trustees meeting, board members and JCCHS medical staff discussed the number of vaccinated individuals in the county as a factor in whether or not to remove the mask mandate.
While the number of vaccinated people continues to increase, some board members and staff expressed that they would like to see Phase 3 vaccinations open up so the general population has a chance to at least receive their first dose before the mask mandate is lifted.
According to state guidelines, Phase 2 will open March 29 and include essential workers not included in previous phases while Phase 3 will open April 9 to include all Missouri residents.
Board members also recognized that high-risk individuals who would like to receive the vaccine have had the opportunities to do so.
JCCHS states as of March 23, approximately 13.7% of the Johnson County population has initiated vaccination, with 7,389 first doses administered.
The board then discussed the county’s weekly COVID-19 positivity rate.
JCCHS states on March 25, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported Johnson County at a seven-day positivity rate of 2.9%, with a projected -1% change in positivity rate over the next seven days.
The board also discussed the effects that could result from repealing the mask mandate.
Some of the board members expressed concerns with lifting the mask mandate at this time, citing when the board replaced the mandate with an advisory last year before seeing a rise in positivity numbers and reinstating the mandate.
The board also discussed the local community’s attitudes toward the mask mandate as a contributing factor.
While the board stated it had received support for the mandate from county school districts, a number of county officials and leaders did not express support for it.
Some board members expressed that those who want to wear a mask will continue doing so while those who have not wanted to wear masks stopped doing so a while ago.
Following the discussion, a motion was made to lift the mask mandate and instate a public health advisory in its place.
Corky Burgin, Kay Stauffer, Darlene Buckstead and Rick Edwards voted in favor of the motion and Donna Stewart voted not in favor.
According to the public health advisory issued by JCCHS, the advisory, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and the Missouri DHSS, individuals within Johnson County are encouraged to:
JCCHS states face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.
JCCHS states parties and social gatherings involving those outside the immediate household should be avoided. If an individual must be in public or private settings involving such gatherings, the use of face coverings are strongly encouraged in conjunction with other precautionary measures to include maintaining 6 feet of distance from other individuals, using proper cough/sneeze etiquette, disinfecting frequently touched surfaces regularly and frequent hand-washing/sanitizing.
JCCHS states businesses, organizations, and other facilities (including but not limited to grocery stores, pharmacies, businesses/organizations, places of worship, gyms, community centers, libraries, schools) where the public is entering and social distancing cannot be maintained, may develop and implement additional precautionary measures (requiring face coverings for entry, requiring employees to wear face coverings during scheduled work hours, requiring face coverings within a classroom/conference setting, etc.) to protect those within their facility.
For more information, visit cdc.gov/coronavirus, health.mo.gov/coronavirus and covidvaccine.mo.gov.
Individuals may also call the Missouri DHSS hotline at 877-435-8411 for questions regarding COVID-19 in Missouri.
