COVID-19 news: Kansas takes another step in reopening its economy
Gyms and salons opened their doors Monday in Johnson County, but restrictions have been put into place to slow the spread of the new coronavirus as Kansas takes the next step in reopening its economy.
Health clubs are still barred from holding group classes and locker rooms are closed under Kansas’ “Phase 1.5” reopening plan.
Salons and barbershops are open, but customers must have an appointment.
Under state regulations, gatherings remain limited to no more than 10 for now. Bars, theaters and swimming pools will stay closed.
Counties and cites can impose stricter rules than the state, but can’t be less stringent.
As much of Kansas moves into Phase 1.5, Wyandotte County continues to prohibit gyms and personal service businesses from opening.
The county has 1,163 confirmed cases, including 70 deaths.
More than one dozen outbreaks have been identified in Wyandotte County.
Johnson County continues to monitor several oubreaks at long-term care facilities, as well as a cluster of cases at an Olathe FedEx facility. As of Monday morning, the county had reported 652 COVID-19 cases and 56 deaths.
Johnson County will be the site of a new $40 million facility that will produce COVID-19 testing supplies.
At its Lenexa factory, Thermo Fisher Scientific has already been producing more than one million viral transport media used for storing and moving test samples a week. A federal contract will ramp up production with a goal of making eight million tubes per week. The expansion is expected to add 300 jobs.
On Sunday, the Kansas City metropolitan area confirmed 48 new cases of the coronavirus and one more death.
In total, 3,307 residents have been infected by COVID-19 in the area, which includes Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. That’s up from 2,956 a week before and 2,384 two weeks earlier on May 3, according to data maintained by The Star.
As of Sunday, Missouri has reported 10,789 cases and 594 deaths. About half of the cases confirmed across the state were found in the St. Louis region, with 5,713 cases and 429 deaths in the county and city combined.
Kansas, which has tested fewer people than Missouri, has reported 7,886 cases and 172 deaths as of Friday.
