A small town dragged its feet on COVID-19 mask mandates. Now residents are paying the price. [View all]

DODGE CITY, Kan. — In the midst of a worsening pandemic, as coronavirus cases climbed, elected leaders in a former frontier town famous for its gunfights faced a choice.

They could pass a mask mandate at the urging of health experts, or reject the measure blasted by some as a violation of their personal freedoms.

The five commissioners of Dodge City, Kansas, a politically red cattle community of some 27,000 people, had resisted such measures all summer and into fall. Like other parts of rural and small-city America, Dodge City had mostly returned to normal after shaking off the pandemic’s first wave.

But then a second wave hit Dodge City. People started getting sick again.

By the time commissioners passed the mask mandate on Nov. 16, more than 1 out of every 10 county residents had contracted the virus. At least a dozen of them had died.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/12/11/small-town-dragged-its-feet-mask-mandates-thousands-got-sick/6481416002/