COVID-19 news: Johnson County leaders plea for enforcement; parks and casinos reopen
As playgrounds and attractions across the Kansas City area begin to reopen, leaders of cities in Johnson County are pleading with county leaders to adopt coronavirus restrictions.
On Tuesday, county health officials announced they would not impose their own restrictions after Gov. Laura Kelly shifted responsibility for preventing the virus to the counties. The county health officials said they “strongly recommend” that businesses and residents continue to follow the reopening plan but will not to enforce the restrictions.
Officials in both Wyandotte County to the north and Douglas County to the west decided to continue enforcing Kelly’s plan.
In a letter to county leaders more than 20 city council members asked for enforceable restrictions to be imposed.
They planned to send their letter to the Johnson County Commission ahead of its Thursday morning meeting.
“It would be very challenging — if not impossible — for each individual Johnson County city or town to attempt on their own to protect the health and safety of our community during this pandemic,” Overland Park Councilman Logan Heley said. “We need to be unified on this and we need the county to provide us with data-based, enforceable health regulations to provide consistency and a basic level of protection to our community.”
In the letter, officials call on the board of county commissioners to adopt Kelly’s reopening plan in a local health order, “for the health and safety of the community we all represent and are sworn to protect.”
Parks, casinos reopening
Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City will reopen June 1 with new protocols in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a company news release.
The casino at 3200 North Ameristar Drive will open its doors at 11 a.m. Monday.
Boyd Gaming, which owns the casino, said employees will be given a supply of masks, dice will be sanitized for each new shoot and dealer equipment will be cleaned regularly. Social distancing practices will be maintained including around the slots and table games.
Visitors are encouraged to wear masks, the company said, which will be available for free.
Also Thursday, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County announced that publicly-owned park playgrounds reopened on May 23.
Visitors are still encouraged to maintain social distancing, avoid touching their faces and to use hand sanitizer before and after using equipment. Hand sanitizer is not provided at facilities, but when park restrooms are available, those can be used to wash hands.
New testing sites
CVS Health will open 22 drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites in Missouri on Friday as part of its nationwide campaign to stop the spread of the disease. Twelve of those locations are in the Kansas City metro area.
All 12 sites were in Missouri. No testing sites in Kansas were announced, but the company continues to add locations, a company spokeswoman said.
The testing will be by appointment only. You won’t go into the store, but sit in your car and administer the test — a nasal swab — yourself. A CVS pharmacy employee will watch to make sure you do it correctly.
The sites are set up as part of a public-private partnership aimed at placing testing sites in hot spots.
