Harvey County commission exempts county from public mask requirement

County Commissioners Randy Hague, Ron Krehbiel and Chip Westfall rejected the advice of both the health department director and the county health officer and exempted Harvey County from a public mask requirement previously issued by Gov. Laura Kelly. The governor issued the order following a growing spike in COVID-19 cases in Kansas after the state’s re-opening. Nationally, the United States had the highest total of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, surpassing 50,000. “I said I’m going to make a lot of people mad today,” Hague said of his decision. “It’s just the way it is. It’s one of those controversial decisions, and hopefully things work out.”