Sedgwick County residents now under a stay-at-home order
Local officials are urging people not to panic as Sedgwick County enters the hunker-down phase of the coronavirus pandemic.
The county’s health officer signed a stay-at-home order Tuesday to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. Sedgwick County joins nearly half of the United States population in being urged to stay home.
“There’s no need to panic; there’s a need to be careful right now,” Sedgwick County Manager Tom Stolz said.
The order took effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and will last for a month. It can be extended or cut short as needed and solidifies a widespread business shutdown directing residents to stay home as much as they possibly can.
Going to the grocery store is allowed, and so is visiting family members. If your car breaks down, you can still get it fixed. Police won’t be issuing tickets or fines for disobeying the order. But local officials are asking people to respect the rules so the coronavirus can be contained.
The most visible effect of the order is an end to all sit-down dining and drinking in bars and restaurants to discourage gatherings of more than 10 people at a time, a limit imposed in an executive order announced Monday by Gov. Laura Kelly.
Nightlife could get a bit drab, with nightclubs also closed by the order.
County Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner, who doubles as chairman of the Board of Health, announced in a Tuesday briefing that county health officer Garold Minns signed the order earlier in the day.
Minns, the dean of the University of Kansas Medical School in Wichita, is the final authority on issuing public health orders and can do that with or without commission approval.
“This virus is expected to infect 40 to 60 percent of the population,” Minns said.
“To slow the spread of the virus, and protect our most important community asset, our people, we must take the actions necessary during this imminent threat,” he said.
On Sunday Minns said he didn’t think a stay-home order was yet warranted. He said he changed his mind after the Sedgwick County Medical Society, representing 1,250 physicians, sent a letter calling for a shelter-in-place order.
That letter included a link to a website developed by COVID Act Now, a team of epidemiologists, public health officials partnered with data scientists, engineers and designers to model the outcomes of the coronavirus after three months.
That group’s model paints a scary picture for the state of Kansas. After three months of social distancing — the policy Sedgwick County was following until Tuesday — COVID-19 would kill 43,000 Kansans.
By contrast, three months of following a stay-home order would result in less than 1,000 deaths from the virus, the model predicts.
“We are trying to let everybody know it’s basically if you’re an essential business, then you are OK to continue . . . doing all the rules of distancing, the six-foot distancing, and encouraging your employees that can (to) work from home, etc.,” Meitzner said. “If you have essential services you need from those businesses, including something as simple as pet stores (or) laundromats, all of these are available for you to attend and (you can) use your vehicle to get there.”
Commissioners on Monday night recommended that Minns sign the order. The vote to do it passed by a minimum 3-2 majority with commissioners Michael O’Donnell and Jim Howell dissenting, expressing concern over the effect on the local economy.
Restaurants will be allowed to offer take-out and delivery service, because such transitory contacts are deemed safe enough to continue.
We may also get a little shaggy by the time the order expires.
Barber and beauty shops will be closed, because the close proximity of stylists to their customers for a significant period of time is deemed too much of a hazard for spreading the virus.
People will still be allowed to walk their dogs and take part in most other outdoors activities, as long as they observe social distancing, which means keeping a 6-foot buffer between people. Parks will remain open, but school playgrounds will not and residents are advised to avoid playground equipment.
Fishing and other food-gathering activities are also allowed.
“Let’s get past it, and then after we get past it, we’re going to rebuild and we’re going to make Wichita even better going forward,” Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said.
The order is modeled on the stay-at-home orders issued earlier in Kansas City suburbs and exurbs including Johnson, Wyandotte, Douglas and Leavenworth counties.
It includes a lengthy list of exemptions for critical governmental functions, services and industries: including:
▪ Health and safety — Carve-outs for health workers, police, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency responders.
▪ Outdoor activity — People will still be allowed to walk, golf and bike outdoors and take part in recreational and food-gathering activities as long as they observe social distancing, which means keeping a 6-foot buffer between people.
▪ Family care — People will be allowed to shop for and deliver provisions to family or friends, including pets.
▪ Child Care — Facilities would be open but children must be cared for in groups of less than 10 per room and cannot move between groups.
▪ Food supply — Businesses in the food-supply chain, including grocery stores, dollar stores, liquor stores, gas stations and mini-marts will be allowed to remain open. Ditto farms, feed stores and other agricultural support activities.
▪ General shopping — Auto parts stores, businesses that sell pet supplies and other shops deemed necessary for the safe functioning of society will be open.
▪ Professional and repair services — Plumbers, electricians, painters and construction workers are exempt from the order, as are many professionals such as lawyers and accountants.
▪ Manufacturing — Aerospace and other manufacturing plants will continue to operate those assembly lines, with workers directed to keep as much separation between themselves and co-workers as possible.
▪ Religious relief — Religion-based relief efforts providing food and other supplies to homebound residents and the poor are allowed for religious leaders and employees.
Anyone with specific questions about the order may call the county at 316-660-9000 or email stayathomefaq@sedgwick.gov.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:45 AM.
