Gov. Laura Kelly today said her new state “phase 1.5” for reopening was added because the daily rate of disease spread was not showing the downward trajectory that was necessary to move fully into the second phase.
The new phase delays some of the planned reopening of the second phase.
“We will continue to review the data and adjust as necessary,” Gov. Kelly said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
The state’s reopening plan applies to counties that do not have their own reopening plan. Wyandotte County has its own reopening plan that is stricter than the state’s, because of a larger number of cases here. Wyandotte County will decide on whether to move to the next phase of its plan on May 21, with the new phase beginning May 25, if it is approved.
While some businesses such as hair salons may reopen by appointment and check-in beginning May 18, mass gatherings of more than 10 people will continue to be prohibited in the state’s new phase, Gov. Kelly said. Fitness centers may reopen, but not for classes, and locker rooms inside fitness centers will not reopen.
Bars will stay closed except for carryout, as casinos, theaters, museums and indoor leisure services also must stay closed, she said. Details are available at covid.ks.gov.
“The whole point of developing the Ad Astra plan for reopening was to provide local communities and businesses some ability to plan for the future,” Gov. Kelly said. “Moving forward, we hope to adhere to the initial recovery process as much as we can.”
But until a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, manufactured and widely distributed, their future remains subject to the whim of the virus, she said. That is why data and not dates will drive their decision-making process, she said.
Data lags about one week behind on-the-ground numbers, she said, because of delays in some areas of testing or reporting.
“With regard to disease spread, before the reopening began, we saw a sustained downward trajectory in new cases by onset date,” Gov Kelly said. “We also felt confident in our ability to manage existing outbreaks as we increased our testing and contact tracing capacity. Over the past week, we saw that downward trend fluctuate and flatten, giving us pause. It illustrates the disease is still spreading in our communities.
“We’ve heard stories across the world of how disease spread can quickly change the entire outlook of a community’s recovery at a moment’s notice,” she said. “If reopening takes place too quickly or too aggressively, it has the power to undermine all the progress established by months of quarantine and sacrifice. We need to ensure that we continue to have the public health capacity to effectively test, trace and treat.”
It is critical to proceed with caution, she said.
She said they were optimistic about the trends on hospitalizations and deaths, and both numbers continue to decline. She said she was confident the hospital system is well prepared.
“But we cannot let up on our vigilance,” she said. “Any large outbreak could put us back where we were.”
Better numbers are not an indication that the disease is gone, rather it is an indication that what the state has been doing to social distance and reduce the spread of the virus is working, and Kansans are doing a good job in managing it, she said.
She said they will continue to evaluate the state’s disease spread, testing rates, death rates, hospitalizations, ability of state and local health authorities to contain outbreaks and conduct contact tracing, and personal protective equipment abiity to determine when the state will move into the next phase.
She said residents should continue good health practices, washing hands, staying home when sick and following isolation and quarantine orders issued by state and local health officers.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, said there were 7,886 cases reported Friday morning, an increase of 418 cases from Wednesday. There were 172 deaths, an increase of eight deaths since Wednesday, he said. There were 724 hospitalizations. The state also reported 53,706 negative tests conducted.
He reported 94 outbreaks, with 39 of them closed and 55 active. The clusters are responsible for 3,852 cases and 120 deaths.
Kansas has 40 clusters in private companies, including 15 closed clusters. They account for 360 cases and two deaths, he said.
The state reported 24 clusters in long-term care facilities, including 10 closed clusters, for 591 cases and 96 deaths, he said.
There were nine clusters in churches and gatherings, with eight of them closed, resulting in 117 cases and 11 deaths, he said.
Nine clusters were reported in the meatpacking industry, with 1,791 cases and four deaths, he said.
Group living outbreaks totaled six, with four now closed, resulting in 54 cases and two deaths, he said.
Three clusters in corrections facilities have resulted in 917 cases and five deaths, he said. Lansing Correctional Facility is the predominant cluster.
Health care facilities reported three clusters, including two closed, resulting in 22 cases, he said.
Dr. Norman said the state’s testing strategy is getting more aggressive, and the goal is for 60,000 Kansas residents to be tested in May. They are seeing more than 2,500 test results coming in to the state agency every day, he said. The state lab will increase capacity to 1,500 to 2,000 samples a day in the state lab, he added.
Dr. Norman said pediatric multi-inflammatory syndrome has been reported in New York in some youth who have had COVID-19, with one Kansas at a Kansas City area hospital.
They always thought COVID-19 was a respiratory illness, but this syndrome has a decreased blood flow to vital organs, he said. He said he hoped it would not be a common outcome to COVID-19.
Dr. Norman also said the state is receiving another 26 cases of remdesivir today and plans to distribute it to hospitals throughout the state.
Dr. Norman also said the KDHE’s and CDC’s guidance is to wear masks whenever people go out in public.
No intervention, whether washing hands, staying home from school or socially distancing, will take the risk to zero, but they will work together to mitigate the risk, he said.
Dr. Norman also said KDHE predictions from March have been on the mark for May. There were fewer deaths than had been predicted, he added. Hospital beds used on a certain day, intensive care unit beds and the number of ventilators were on the mark.
State case counts in counties
According to KDHE, Wyandotte County had 1,141 cases on Friday morning, an increase of 34 cases from Wednesday’s 1,107.
On Friday, according to the KDHE, Leavenworth County reported a total of 957 confirmed and probable cases, an increase of five since Wednesday. Johnson County reported 648 confirmed and probable cases, an increase of 30 cases since Wednesday, according to the KDHE.
Eighty-four counties reported confirmed and probable positive cases on Friday, according to KDHE, and some of them included: Ford County (Dodge City area), 1,299; Finney County (Garden City area), 1,170; Seward County (Liberal area), 753; Sedgwick County (Wichita area), 512; Lyon County (Emporia area), 355; and Shawnee County (Topeka area), 183.
Douglas County (Lawrence area) reported 58 cases, and Riley County (Manhattan area) reported 61 cases, according to the KDHE.
The KDHE now is reporting case information only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
To view the governor’s news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/GovLauraKelly/videos/280569762984055/.
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.
Several Wyandotte County pop-up testing sites are listed at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
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/.