Sedgwick County, Kansas, the seat of Kansas’s largest city – Wichita – and the second most populous county in the state, rejected a new mask mandate proposed by the county’s health officer, Gerald Minns, by a margin of 3-2, with County Commission Chair Peter Meitzner declaring them “toxic” and provoking reactions that border on “civil unrest.”
A special meeting was held in Sedgwick County, Kansas yesterday afternoon, as is now required since the legislature passed legislation stripping county-level health officers of making unilateral decisions, including for mask mandates. The three hour meeting featured a long series of doctors clamoring for a mask mandate, and several anti-mask citizens supporting face freedom. It ultimately culminated in a 3-2 decision to discard the request for a mask mandate.
“I don’t think anybody likes wearing masks, I think we all agree on that,” said Commissioner Jim Howell, who went on to describe that his previous careers in avaition and fire fighting required masks, which were unpleasant but necessary for his job. He added, “Everybody who talks about masks knows, masks don’t stop COVID. They mitigate the transmission to some degree… In reality, each one of those masks has potentially some benefit, but those masks don’t actually stop COVID.” Howell then explained that despite social distancing and mask wearing, he contracted COVID.
“I did everything religiously, despite some community criticism that thinks I didn’t, I did all those things, and I still got COVID, even though I wore my mask. Then I got vaccinated, and now you’re asking me to put a mask back on. I have antibodies from infection, I have antibodies from vaccine… Now we’re saying to everybody it doesn’t matter if you’re vaccinated or not, we’re going to make you pretend that you’re not vaccinated and are at the same risk as everybody else.”
He then said that it seems as though Minns wants a mask mandate because individuals cannot discern the difference between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. “We’re not going to be like countries back in the ’40s that make you wear an armband to identify yourself.”
Read full story here: Kansas’s Second Most Populous County Rejects Mask Mandate After Community Response, Commissioner Calls Them ‘Toxic’ – National File