Gov. Laura Kelly today announced that Kansas is moving into a modified Phase 2 of its reopening plan on this Friday, May 22, a few days earlier than expected.
The governor cited improving metrics and data on COVID-19 in the state as her reason for moving up the date. She made her remarks at a news conference on Tuesday.
Wyandotte County is currently not under the governor’s plan, but is under its own reopening plan, ReStart WyCo, which is stricter than the governor’s plan. It is scheduled to be in the “red zone” of the local plan until May 25, and it’s not certain when it will move into the next phase.
The governor made her announcement one day before she is scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House, on Wednesday.
She said her decision was based on data that showed the rates were improving. The rate of deaths and hospitalizations have fallen in the state, and tests have increased, she said.
She added she is watching the metrics on disease spread, hospitalization and death rates, and availability of personal protective equipment.
She said she was encouraged by the state’s progress.
While Kansas is transitioning to Phase 2, it’s still a long way to go before arriving at anything bordering on normal, Gov. Kelly said.
She said everyone should continue to wear masks, wash their hands and stay home if sick or running a temperature. The threat is still present, especially if people are in the high-risk category, she said.
Even if they’re not at high risk, the events at Lake Perry earlier this month, when people gathered despite the “stay-at-home” order in effect, illustrate how things can spin rapidly out of control if people defy guidelines, she said. The gathering at Lake Perry led to at least 10 people falling ill, and at least 20 people being in quarantine. The situation was a sobering reminder of how the virus may spread and why social distancing is important, she said.
Gov. Kelly said nightclubs, bars and swimming pools will still be closed under this phase starting Friday, along with large entertainment venues of more than 2,000 people, fairs, festivals, parades, and summer camps that are not state licensed child care programs.
Reopening under the governor’s plan will be state-owned casinos if they comply with state guidelines, museums, bowling alleys, and organized sports practices that follow guidelines of the Kansas Recreational Park Association found at covid.ks.gov, she said.
In the state’s phase 2, mass gatherings of more than 15 people will be prohibited.
Wyandotte County is still under the “red zone” of the ReStart WyCo plan, and the reopening of these places in Wyandotte County will depend on the decision of the local health officer. The Unified Government Commission is scheduled to have an update on COVID-19 at Thursday night’s meeting.
Gov. Kelly said when she meets with the President on Wednesday, she will discuss the Kansas meatpacking plants and how they continued to keep the plants open while addressing positive cases of COVID-19 there. Kansas did not close down the plants, as some other states did. They brought in contact tracers and used other methods to keep the plants open.
Gov. Kelly also expects to address programs on mental health, she said. She said she plans to discuss speeding up the delivery of recovery funds from the federal government to state and local governments.
State and local governments need more federal funding to offset revenue losses they are experiencing because of COVID-19, she said.
Phase 2 will last until Sunday, June 7. Gov. Kelly said Phase 3 could start as early as June 8, moved up a week from its original date. She specifically mentioned only one death during the past weekend in the entire state as an improvement over the past few weeks.
Gov. Kelly has appointed a revitalization task force. The task force will have a five-member executive committee and on the task force will be public and private sector leaders, legislators, urban and rural representation.
The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (S.P.A.R.K.) task force is led by Cheryl Harrison-Lee, the Recovery Office’s executive director, and Lyle Butler, chair of the task force. Butler has worked with local Chambers of Commerce, retiring from the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.
The task force steering committee includes two Wyandotte County leaders, Edward Honesty Jr., president and chief operating officer, Best Harvest Bakeries, Kansas City, Kansas; and State Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, D-36th Dist., Kansas City, Kansas, ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee.
To view the governor’s news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/GovLauraKelly/videos/171065194317593/.
To see a news release about the governor’s announcement of Phase 2, visit https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kelly-moves-kansas-into-modified-phase-2/.
More information about the “red zone” rules is online at the ReStart WyCo hub at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/restartwyco.
The ReStart WyCo plan is at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/RestartWYCOGuidanceDocument043020.pdf.
The UG’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The Kansas COVID-19 website is at https://covid.ks.gov/.
The Kansas COVID-19 resource page is at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus.
Information from the CDC is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/.
The number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City metro area is listed at a website sponsored by the Mid-America Regional Council at http://marc-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/1c93961075454558b3bf0dfad014feae.
