Kansas governor urges school districts to require masks

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and ANDY TSUBASA FIELD
Associated Press

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is calling for school districts to require masks as hospitals buckle under the strain of increasingly young COVID-19 patients. Kelly on Friday called the situation an “emergency” and urged people to get vaccinated. She said that more COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the state on Wednesday than any other single day since the pandemic began. And she said intensive care units are at 100% capacity at six of the state’s largest hospitals amid a surge fueled by the delta variant and low vaccination rates. Schools have been hit hard, with 154 clusters and 1,889 cases.