Is golf essential? How about beauty supplies? Stay-at-home rules still fuzzy in KC area
Kansas duffers will be happy to hear that “no-touch” golf is essential in the current coronavirus crisis.
That’s what Johnson County commissioners were told Monday during their discussion of Gov. Laura Kelly’s statewide stay-at-home order, which prohibits residents from leaving home for non-essential activities.
Apparently, playing golf without touching the flagstick or the cup is still OK.
You may think that decision is just fine, or that it’s absurd in a deadly pandemic. But it clearly illustrates the fuzzy nature of “essential” activities — a problem that confuses the public, angers some employers and employees, and makes fighting the coronavirus even more difficult.
It’s hard to follow the law when you don’t know what the law is. That’s a threat to workers, their families, their neighbors and all of us.
Kansas, for example, has been under the stay-at-home order since Monday. The lockdown order contains five pages of “essential” exceptions, though, including oil drilling, gun shops, off-site alcohol sales and worship services.
Almost all would agree that some services are truly needed: Water, energy, police and fire protection, groceries and hospital and pharmacy services are good examples. After that, definitions get squishy: While the Department of Homeland Security has issued “guidance” to state and local governments on essential businesses, not every state or city hall has followed the advice.
And confusion reigns. Kansas received 1,681 calls asking for an exemption from the “essential functions” rule on the very first day of the order. No one is sure what essential means.
This week, parking lots were crowded at several Johnson County office buildings and warehouses. Kelly’s Facebook page is loaded with comments from Kansans seeing similar packed workplaces across the state.
Sadly, at a news conference Tuesday, the Kansas governor was less than clear on how “essential” decisions are reached. In the days ahead, the state should provide details about how exemptions are granted, and why they can be denied.
It isn’t just Kansas, though. In Kansas City, complaints have poured into City Hall about businesses apparently violating the local stay-at-home order. Residents have reported open garden stores, music stores, party houses and several beauty shops.
Not to worry, though. Beauty supply stores in Kansas City seem to be in the clear: A beauty supply store is considered essential “as it provides products for those that work from home,” the city’s response says. Who knew?
Mayor Quinton Lucas has said any business asking if it’s essential probably isn’t. That’s less than helpful: Almost every business thinks it’s essential. The city must do more to explain its criteria to the public.
Some have characterized complaints to authorities as “snitching.” That’s patently ridiculous: The longer non-essential businesses and gathering places stay open, the longer the COVID-19 threat will continue.
The failure to speak up could contribute to the spread of the virus. If you drove past a schoolhouse crowded with children tomorrow, would you not report that to authorities? Would anyone send their own child to a packed classroom right now? Of course not.
Why is a crowded, non-essential workplace any different? The financial health of a business cannot be more important than protecting public health.
And it isn’t fair to workers. “Citizen is reporting one of her co-workers came to work sick,” one Kansas City complaint says. Employers who try to skirt the rules put their employees’ health at risk, as well as the community’s.
Respect for the law is only possible when the rules are clear and clearly enforced. When sporting goods and hobbyist stores stay open, it invites the public to disregard all stay-at-home orders. And that worsens the coronavirus crisis.
Local and state authorities must do a better job of explaining what is and isn’t allowed and enforcing those rules.There should be a clear and transparent appeals process for closed businesses.
Shutting down the economy to defeat a pandemic is hard. We all want this to end as quickly as possible. Circumventing the rules will only prolong the agony.