How will the stay at home order work in the Kansas City area? Mayor Lucas explains
A day after a stay at home order was issued for much of the metro area, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas explained how it will affect businesses and residents and what constitutes “essential” activities.
Lucas, who announced the order Saturday, answered questions on Facebook Live on Sunday.
The order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
“I recognize there is great pain in connection with what’s going on,” Lucas said. “I recognize there is an amazing challenge. I know this as well as anyone. I’m a mayor of a city who likes tax revenues and there is a lot of stuff that is not happening. But we are all shouldering the burden now to try to make our community safer.”
The order will require residents of Kansas City and Johnson, Jackson and Wyandotte counties to remain at home except for activities “essential to the health and safety” of themselves, family members or friends. The Leavenworth County Health Department also issued a similar stay at home order Saturday.
The counties were expected to issue their own orders in concert. After 30 days, the jurisdictions will consider whether to extend the order.
The order was necessary, Lucas said, to reduce activity in the city so that the rate of infection can be controlled. Violations will be considered misdemeanor offenses that carry a fine of $500 and up to 6 months in jail.
Questions about order
On Sunday Lucas took questions about schools, workplaces and how the orders will be enforced.
Clay County had not yet joined the group of local governments issuing the order. The order thus applied to the parts of the county falling within the boundaries of Kansas City.
Lucas said he would be speaking with officials in the Northland later Sunday. Platte County issued a stay at home order later in the day.
“Our goal is that everyone would be complying by this order because frankly, we are all part of the same community,” he said
The order allows trips to essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, doctors’ offices, dry cleaners, laundromats, banks and restaurants.
There is no requirement that grocery stores only let a certain number of people in at a time, but residents are expected to follow good social distancing rules.
“I implore you, there is no need to hoard goods,” Lucas said. “The world is not coming to an end.”
Kansas City issued an order Saturday that extends the closure of schools in the Kansas City area on the Missouri side of the state line through April 24. Kansas schools were already closed for the remainder of the academic year, under order of the governor.
“That was a tough decision,” Lucas said. “A big part of the school conversation related to the concerns of community spread.”
Schools can still provide meals for children who need them and many have announced such delivery or pick-up services.
Essential businesses include hospitals and organizations that provide food, shelter and social services to the homeless.
The full order can be found here.
“If you need something to survive and if you’re the type of business that provides that service, you are likely essential,” he said. “If you’re the type of business that does not, you likely are not.”
He said not to confuse essential and nonessential with valuable and not valuable.
“Everybody’s job is special. Everybody’s job is valuable,’ he said. “That is why coming to decisions like this are so difficult.”
RideKC, which operates the public transportation in the Kansas City metro area, announced Sunday on its website that it was running at full service and was committed to getting people to jobs, stores and essential services.
“Across the region, large events have been canceled, and some businesses are closed,” the agency said. “RideKC encourages you to only travel if necessary and to confirm your destination is open.”
Fares are suspended on all RideKC buses, including those operated by the KCATA, Johnson County, Kansas City, Kansas and Independence.
RideKC planned to update its website by Monday with any information about how the order would impact transit.
“Our bus system and streetcar system remain open,” Lucas said. “We will try to keep them open as long as we can.”
Kansas City International Airport remains open. It is not screening incoming passengers because it’s not recommended federally, officials said.
That’s because Kansas City doesn’t have direct flights to areas hit hardest by the virus. For example, someone flying from Italy to Kansas City would likely be routed through an airport in New York or Chicago and screened there.
Lawn care work is allowed for sanitation or for residences, but large-scale, elective landscaping projects should not go forward, Lucas said.
When it came to enforcement, Lucas said, the area jurisdictions were not looking to create a police state. Much of the enforcement will be done by organizations at City Hall, including regulated industries, the public health department and fire marshals and fire inspectors.
“Our goal is not to be punitive, but it is to make sure people comply,” he said. “We will reach out to businesses we know that are in violation of the order. We will reach out to individuals that we know to be in violation of the order.”
Although the main theme of his discussion was social distancing, Lucas urged people to avoid becoming isolated.
“What I encourage you to do is make sure you are calling, that you’re checking in on those close personal acquaintances,” Lucas said. “Maintain your social distancing, but this is not about a time of social isolation.
“There are lot of people out there who may be hurting, who may be alone, who may be concerned,” he said. “Reach out to them. Pick up a phone. Shoot them a text. Do all you can to try to make their lives and all our lives better through this phase.”
Lucas acknowledged this is not an easy time.
“But I know we can get through it,” he said. “And I have confidence in our region.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 11:13 AM.
