Kansas orders state workers back to remote work as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rise
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is sending state employees back to working remotely as COVID-19 cases rise and hospital capacity is once again strained.
The decision comes roughly 10 weeks after state workers returned to normal operations, buoyed by widespread access to the COVID-19 vaccine and testing.
The delta variant of COVID-19, however, has driven the about-face. The state is now averaging 941 new cases of the virus per day and hospitals are reporting strained capacity driven by staffing shortages.
The number of COVID-19 patients across the KC metro is approaching levels last seen during the winter and is still trending upward.
“The decision to return to remote work was not made lightly — but we know that this is a necessary step to prevent COVID-19 infections,” Kelly said in a statement. “I am confident that our state employees will continue to provide quality services to all Kansans who need them.”
State workers will be fully remote as of September 3. They will continue to work remotely through October 4th at the earliest.
Kansas agencies will return to operations initiated when COVID-19 cases were first identified in March of 2020, but without the statewide lockdowns and emergency orders imposed then.
Offices that serve the public in person will return to an appointment-only system.
Kelly’s statewide stay-at-home order and mask mandates drew heavy opposition last year. In June, Republican Legislative leaders declined to extend the state’s COVID-19 disaster emergency. Any new emergency order in the state would require their approval.
At a press conference Friday, Kelly raised an alarm over the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths statewide.
14% of Kansas hospitals reported last week that critical staffing shortages were anticpated.
“It shouldn’t be like this, but COVID-19 infections are more rampant today than they were before the vaccine was available,” Kelly said.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 5:34 PM.
