Wyandotte County sets May 11 goal for slowly relaxing coronavirus stay-at-home order
Wyandotte County, the hardest hit county in the Kansas City area in terms of coronavirus infection rates, is eyeing a May 11 day for a gradual easing of stay-at-home restrictions.
Allen Greiner, the county’s public health officer, said he will issue a stay-at-home order on May 3, when Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is expected to lift an existing order that covers the entire state.
Wyandotte County’s stay-at-home order is generally consistent with the state’s ongoing order: Residents should stay at home except when carrying out essential activities like visiting grocery stores, avoid congregating with people outside their families and maintain six feet of distance between people.
Starting May 11, the county may begin slowly lifting the stay-at-home order if health metrics continue to stabilize in Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas.
“I do feel like and I think we all feel like the data has improved,” Greiner said during a special meeting Thursday of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas Board of Commissioners. “We are not seeing a continued increase in hospital utilization, we are not seeing an increase in deaths.”
Infection rates in Wyandotte County, measured by infections per 100,000 people, have been about four times higher than surrounding communities like Johnson County and Kansas City, Missouri.
Greiner said about 27% of tests that have been done in Wyandotte County have come back positive. The rate is about 10% in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department.
Some of that is due to infection clusters in long-term care facilities, most notably at Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation where there have been 132 coronavirus cases and 32 deaths.
In addition, there have been clusters of cases identified at five businesses:
▪ Kellogg’s Bakery (19 cases)
▪ Donnelly College construction site (eight cases)
▪ National Beef Packaging (23 cases)
▪ Premier Custom Foods (10 cases)
▪ El Torito Supermarket (six cases)
There have been no deaths associated with the cases at those businesses.
If health metrics improve by May 11, Wyandotte County contemplates a gradual relaxation of stay-at-home restrictions, followed by stoplight-fashioned red, yellow and green zones.
Should things go well, a red zone would initially begin with residents encouraged to stay at home as much as possible and allowing outdoor activities with no more than 10 people.
Then a yellow zone would still insist that staying at home is safest, while outdoor crowds of up to 25 people would be allowed and six-foot social distancing still in place.
A green zone contemplates still staying at home as the safest option while outdoor crowds of up to 50 would be allowed, with six-foot social distancing.
People are expected to wear masks in public during the stay-at-home order, as well as during the red and yellow phases. Wearing a mask is still encouraged in the green zone.
Decisions on moving from zones will rely on changes in the number of hospitalizations and deaths over a 14-day period.
“If things don’t go well, it is possible we could backtrack and go to a zone that preceded the zone we are in,” Greiner said.
The economic effect of the coronavirus pandemic is forecast to hit Unified Government finances hard.
A forecast by Unified Government chief financial officer Kathleen VonAchen said the UG could see about a $25 million to $35 million loss in revenue in 2020. A $35 million drop, the worse case scenario that envisions a possible re-emergence of coronavirus in the fall, is the equivalent of about 8.5% of the UG budget.
VonAchen said the effects are expected to last into 2021, with revenue that year expected to drop between $10 million and $22 million.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 6:37 PM.
