Answers to your questions as Kansas begins to reopen amid coronavirus pandemic

Gov. Laura Kelly plans to “slowly, gradually and cautiously” reopen the state of Kansas. But what exactly does that mean? Here are answers to some of the questions submitted by readers.

When will swimming pools, gyms and fitness centers reopen?

No earlier than May 18. The City of Wichita is currently reviewing the governor’s recommendations and hopes to announce a plan to open municipal pools and splash pads soon, spokeswoman Megan Lovely said Friday morning. Usually the water amenities open over Memorial Day weekend.

The Greater Wichita YMCA is also working on a reopening plan for its branches and pools but isn’t ready to release to details yet, spokesman Sean Amore told The Eagle earlier this week. Plans to open pools in several smaller cities in the Wichita area are also on hold.

According to the CDC, there’s no evidence the novel coronavirus can be spread through water in pools, hot tubs, spas and water playgrounds; water disinfectants like chlorine and bromine should inactivate it. But the organization recommends people practice social distancing and good hand washing both in and out of the water to protect themselves.

When will the courts reopen?

As of Friday morning, district courts statewide remained closed to the public. When and how they will return to normal operation will be announced in administrative orders from the Kansas Supreme Court. Office of Judicial Administration spokeswoman Lisa Taylor said in a Friday morning email that “the Supreme Court is in the process of working through those details now.” The Supreme Court ordered statewide closures on March 18.

Sedgwick County District Court is among the courts waiting on the Kansas Supreme Court’s direction. Court administrator Ellen House said the court expects a phased-in approach to reopening that will include efforts to maintain social distancing and limiting the number of people in the courthouse.

Wichita Municipal Court also remains closed and all hearings are suspended at this time. The court will send notices to defendants and lawyers when it reopens, according to the city’s website.

When will the mall open?

Towne East Square will start opening Monday. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Simon Property Group has a list of protocols in place for when it opens, including ensuring occupancy doesn’t exceed one person per 50 square feet, closing high interaction areas like play areas, screening employees and recommending tenants do too as well as taping off “every other sink and urinal” to encourage social distancing.

Towne West Square is owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group. The company’s website says it will reopen shopping centers “when we feel it is safe to do so again in accordance to local governance and (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines.” No one from the investment group immediately returned an inquiry from The Eagle.

What about summer childcare programs and camps?

Daycare programs have always been exempt from the governor’s stay-home order. Under her reopening plan, summer camps are prohibited from operating until June 1.

The Wichita School District says it’s still discussing how to proceed with summer Latchkey programs, which provide daytime childcare to hundreds of school children ages 5 to 12 each year. Spokeswoman Wendy Johnson said the district hopes to make a decision soon. School buildings remain closed through the end of the academic year.

The Wichita Catholic Diocese announced Friday that it was canceling summer Totus Tuus and Prayer & Action youth programs.

Enrollment for YMCA summer camps, another population summertime childcare option, remains paused for now.

How many people have died in Sedgwick County? I can’t find a source.

As of May 2, there have been 12 deaths in Sedgwick County. Six of those are associated with the Clearwater Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Sedgwick County issue daily updates. The numbers also are reported daily at kansas.com and in The Wichita Eagle. The state’s updates can be found at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/. The county gives its daily updates on Youtube and at its website, www.sedgwickcounty.org.

Do we have sufficient numbers of RELIABLE tests so that the basic guidelines of TEST..TRACE..ISOLATE can be followed?

Kansas, along with most states, hasn’t achieved the kind of widespread, on-demand testing that experts say is the ideal. Gov. Laura Kelly has repeatedly stressed the importance of testing in reopening the state.

She did point to signs of progress during her Thursday evening speech. The state has ordered 500,000 testing kits from an overseas supplier. The first 5,000 are en route and shipments of 10,000 a week are expected. An additional 50,000 kits are also expected from the federal government over the next two weeks.

According to covidactnow.org, about 16% of recent COVID tests in Kansas were positive, which it says indicates that testing in the state is limited, meaning that many cases may go undetected. The group is made up of technologists, epidemiologists, health experts working in conjunction with Georgetown University Medical Center.

The World Health Organization recommends a positive test rate of less than 10% before reopening, according to group.

Why in first phase are schools/daycare/ colleges opening up?

We’ll take these one at a time because there are different rules for each.

K-12 school buildings are closed by order of Gov. Laura Kelly and will stay closed the rest of this school year. There’s a carve-out allowing gatherings of fewer than 10 in school facilities. In practice, that’s been mainly used for special cases such as allowing cleaning crews to deep clean facilities or letting teachers into the building for short times to retrieve materials from their classrooms. Actual student instruction has moved online. A decision on whether schools can reopen after the summer break will be made at a later date based on conditions at the time.

Day care has always been exempt from the stay-at-home order that ends Monday, although facilities have to follow extra regulations to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Higher education institutions remain closed indefinitely. Limited educational activities or events can be held on campus, but must be limited to 10 people or less.

If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, what type of sanitation takes place — to protect customers and fellow employees?

That’s up to the individual business owner or management. Federal guidance recommends cleaning and disinfecting surfaces in an employee’s workspace if they leave work because of illness.

What about public libraries?

The Wichita Public Library says it will discuss plans this week on when and how to reopen.

When can youth sports teams begin practicing again? How do we practice and stay 6 feet apart?

Some youth baseball practices will begin as early as Monday.

Southwest Boys Club, Genesis Sports Complex and the Park City Youth Baseball/Softball League could receive the, “go ahead” on practices at the start of next week, Executive Director Scott Martin said; he wants to look over Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s reopening plan a few more times before reaching out to his coaches.

About 1,000 Wichita area kids make up those three leagues, and there are more than 10 players per team. Martin said practices will be sectioned off to ensure no more than 10 players will be on one side of the field.

In-game rules will be amended to best fit social distancing recommendations, too, Martin said. Dugouts will be extended down the first- and second-base lines. The umpire will stand behind the pitcher instead of behind the catcher. And rules for leading off the bases and picking off baserunners will be fluidly adjusted based on the phasing of Governor Kelly’s plan.

The first tournaments are scheduled for Memorial Day weekend with the first league games scheduled for June 1.

Westurban Baseball is following almost all of the same self-imposed guidelines, Executive Director Eric Blasdel said. Westurban is adding one other rule of note: Players will be allowed to sit with their parents when their team is hitting and they are not up to bat. The league has submitted its changes to Sedgwick County, Blasdel said.

League 42, a nonprofit baseball league for primarily inner-city youth, has canceled its season with hopes of returning in the fall, Executive Director Bob Lutz said.

Two Rivers Youth Club and the YMCA make up the other two largest youth baseball and softball leagues. They have not responded to the Eagle’s inquiries.

Wichita Regional Soccer Association and American Youth Soccer Association, Wichita Region 208 have not responded to the Eagle’s enquiries either.

When will barbers, like Great Clips, open?

Maybe after May 18. Barbers and stylist shops will remain closed by the governor’s order for Phase One of the reopening plan, meaning they’ll be closed for at least the next two weeks. If the state determines it’s safe to move to Phase Two at that time, hair-cutting establishments will be allowed to reopen then.

How will any of these plans be enforced? What happens if a sports league goes ahead in defiance of state order — is that up to sheriff or whom?

Technically, all violations of mass-gathering standards are a misdemeanor and can be handled through citations at the discretion of local police, sheriff’s deputies or other law enforcement. In practice, the Sedgwick County Commission, which serves as the Board of Health, has expressed its reluctance to enforce the guidelines and voted unanimously on Friday to shut down a Web portal that had been set up for residents to report suspected violations. No one was prosecuted under the governor’s stay-at-home or mass-gathering orders, but the county did issue about 160 warning letters.

Is it safe for people to be close together (less than 6-ft) if people are wearing cloth masks? Would that be an acceptable precaution for resuming normal public activity?

It’s complicated, but the short answer is, don’t bet your life on it.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends masks be worn in environments where proper social distancing is difficult to maintain at all times, such as grocery stores or pharmacies.

However, recent research reported by three South Korean universities and the University of Minnesota concluded that cloth masks do little, if anything, to stop infected people from spreading the coronavirus to the surrounding environment.

Can more than 10 people but less than 30 attend a wedding in a church in Kansas?

The wedding would be allowed as long as social distancing of at least 6 feet could be maintained. The social distancing does not apply to people who live together.

“As long as the event can maintain social distancing, it can occur during Phase One in any non-prohibited facility,” according to an email from Lauren Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the governor’s office. Large venue spaces and community centers are prohibited in phase one. “Individuals are encouraged to consult their local county for any additional restrictions.”

What is the expiration date of the “10 people gathering” part of this plan?

Phase one, which limits gathering to 10 people, lasts until at least May 18.

What is the timeline for this plan? If this is only phase 1, then what do future phases include?

The timeline starts Monday and goes will take until at least June 15 to get through all four phases. Whether the state moves to the next phase will depend in part on the spread of the virus. The phases include slowly lifting restrictions on businesses, gathering sizes and travel. Phase two, which could start May 18, allows bars and nightclubs to open at 50% capacity, but does not allow large venues that hold more than 2,000 people to open. Summer camps, festivals and graduations are still on hold and employees are encouraged to work remotely. By phase three, which could start June 1, nonessential travel can resume and restrictions on venues and businesses will be lifted as long as they adhere to the no more than 90 people guidelines. By the fourth phase, which could start June 15, restrictions are lifted, but people are still advised to maintain social distancing. The entire plan can be found under a section on covid.ks.gov.

Will we be able to legally evict a tenant from my property?

The executive order “prohibiting certain foreclosures and evictions” is in place until at least May 14. The State Finance Council can extend it another 30 days after that. The order applies to people with “financial hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Explain the church gathering policy

Churches and other houses of worship can hold in-person services. The services are not limited to gathering sizes as long as people from different households can maintain social distancing of six feet or more.

Editor’s Note: an earlier version of the story incorrectly identified restrictions for a wedding at a church. (Updated May 5, 2020, at 11:25 a.m.)

This story was originally published May 3, 2020 at 8:00 AM.