Jackson County COVID Mask Mandate Stalled As KU Med Warns of Death

Today a controversial decision on Jackson County COVID mask dress code orders that would have impacted local suburbs was sent back to committee.

Reality and just a bit of encouragement of grassroots action from ANYBODY who wants to engage in local politics . . .

Without a dedicated crew of protesters showing up in-person to express their opposition, the legislation likely would have passed.

Meanwhile, here's an important word from local health leaders . . .

"We are still seeing that effect of those great number of hospitalizations that we've been dealing with for the past several weeks," Dr. Dana Hawkinson, at the University of Kansas Health System, said during an update.

Another grim reality is that doctors and nurses continue to lose patients to the virus.

"Unfortunately, we have also continued to have deaths and over the weekend we had eight deaths, three on Friday, two on Saturday, and then three in the last 24 hours," Hawkinson said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

COVID-19 infections drop but KC hospitals remain full

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the first time in months, every state in the U.S. reported either being stable or a drop in new COVID-19 cases. While it's progress, health experts said rates are still higher now than any other time in the pandemic.

Further reading from BOTH sides of the debate . . .

LOCAL COVID-19 UPDATES: Kansas adds 4,027 news cases since Friday; Missouri reports 1,696

Here are the latest COVID-19 updates around the Kansas City metro area, and in Kansas and Missouri:Monday, Feb.

University of Kansas Medical Center participating in COVID-19 long haul study

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After contracting COVID-19, some people tend to have symptoms for a longer period of time, something scientists have dubbed as "COVID-19 ." Those symptoms vary from a cough, to a loss of smell or taste, among others.

Deadline looms for Missouri schools to get $1.95 billion in COVID money

KCPS would receive more than $64 million. Charter schools within the district would get nearly $53 million combined..

Despite dropping COVID-19 numbers, cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children are rising

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline, there's growing concern about another condition that's on the rise. It's called multisystem inflammatory syndrome and it's still a risk among children who also contract COVID-19. Most doctors will tell you we're not out of the woods yet with COVID-19.

Doctors warn ending school mask mandates will lead to rise in COVID cases as several states lift requirements

Several states across the country are considering lifting mask mandates in schools in an attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Delaware Gov. John Carney announced Monday that mask mandates in schools will come to an end in March.

Bans On Mask Mandates To Protect Against Covid Endanger Students With Disabilities

Jackson Gould is a happy, active and out-going 9-year-old who enjoys school, gymnastics, and swimming. Jackson also has cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness that fills his lung with sticky mucous and makes him very vulnerable to recurrent episodes of pneumonia. (I wrote more about cystic fibrosis last month in " Salt in My Soul...," Mallory Smith's posthumous story.)

The CDC's Flawed Case for Wearing Masks in School

The agency's director has said, repeatedly, that schools without mask mandates have triple the risk of COVID outbreaks. That claim is based on very shaky science. The debate over child masking in schools boiled over again this fall, even above its ongoing high simmer.

It's Time to End Mandatory Masks in Schools

A Virginia parent and internist writes that it's time to end mandatory masking in schools across the U.S.

You decide . . .