Kansas mask mandate reduced SARS-COV-2 spread in counties that complied: Kansas City Star

This editorial in the Kansas City Star states that only 15 of Kansas’ 105 counties, mostly the urban ones, agreed to mandate face masks after the governor ordered it (some counties had already done it on their own.) Those counties have seen a levelling-off or reduction in daily case counts, while the mask-free counties have seen increases.

Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said that the counties with mandates represent two-thirds of the population of the state and account for the overall decrease in daily case counts. Those counties, he said, have denser populations and more minorities, who are susceptible to serious complications.

Norman was quoted as saying, “Some counties have been the control group with no mask and some counties have been the experimental group where masks are worn, and the experimental group is winning the battle. All of the improvement in the case development comes from those counties wearing masks.”