It hasn’t been the best few days for Ellsworth County commissioners. About a week ago, Kermit Rush and Steve Dlabal learned they had been exposed to the cornavirus during a regular Monday commission meeting at the courthouse. Into quarantine they went. A third commissioner, Dennis Rolfs, was already at home, after testing positive for the virus following a family birthday party.

I-R advertising director Alan Rusch talked by telephone Monday with the three officials and, we were pleased to learn, they’re all doing well.

However, we hope the experience convinces the commissioners to take another look at a mask mandate request contained in a petition they so far have taken no action on. The petition was presented to officials in August by Dr. Ronald Whitmer, county health officer. It contained the signatures of 20 local health care officials.

At the time Ellsworth County had 21 COVID-19 cases, with three considered active. As of Monday, the number of total cases was more than 200 and growing.

According to the petition, “As members of your health care community, we are urging you to take a stand by ENCOURAGING these simple steps — wearing a face mask in public and at social gatherings, maintaining physical distancing and washing hands regularly.”

Any kind of mandate is not an easy thing. But please consider this:

Researchers at the University of Kansas recently reported that the 21 Kansas counties with mask mandates thwarted significant escalation in transmission of COVID-19 and counties operating without a requirement people wear a face covering suffered steady infection rate increases.

Donna Ginther, a distinguished professor of economics and director of KU’s Institute for Policy and Social Research, said research showed Kansas counties with a mask mandate could expect seven fewer cases per day for every 100,000 people.

Commissioners were correct several months ago in asking hard questions about a mandate and how it would be enforced. But given this most recent information, they would be remiss in not going back and rethinking their original decision.

As if a pandemic isn’t enough, the general election is Tuesday and the Ellsworth County Courthouse was temporarily closed to advance voting. That is no longer the case.

The county commission room opened Tuesday morning and will be available the rest of the week. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Election results will not be available in the Nov. 5 I-R; however, watch our Facebook page Nov. 3 for frequent updates.