Sedgwick County COVID-19 orders extended because of ‘current data and trends’
The current Sedgwick County COVID-19 health orders will be extended for at least another 28 days because of “current data and trends,” officials said Wednesday.
The health order takes effect Jan. 10 and will last until Feb. 6. It’s a continuation of the current order that limits gatherings to 25 people, mandates a mask and 6 feet of social distancing in public as well as restricts the capacity and hours of certain businesses.
Sedgwick County Health Officer Dr. Garold Minns, who signed the new order, told the Sedgwick County Commission on Wednesday morning that the “virus is still in the community and the vast majority of us are still susceptible to it.”
Restaurants, bars and fitness centers — none of which are governed by the 25-person limit — have to restrict capacity to 100 people or 50% of the capacity allowed under the fire code, whichever is less. Retail stores are also limited to the 50% capacity based on the fire code.
Tables at restaurants and bars must be at least 6 feet apart and can’t have more than eight people at them. Those businesses must also close their doors to patrons from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. but can continue curbside, drive-through and delivery services.
Commissioner Jim Howell asked Minns about allowing restaurants to stay open longer so that late-shift workers, including first responders, could still grab a bite to eat.
“Why not allow an IHOP to serve that third shift?” Howell said.
Minns said he’d consider relaxing the curfew.
Enforcement of order
“Businesses and organizations are responsible for ensuring that individuals comply with the order’s mask-wearing, mass gathering, percentage of fire code capacity limitations, and social distancing requirements,” according to a Sedgwick County news release. “Businesses are expected to make efforts to comply with fire code capacity limitations included in this order.”
Sedgwick County has received 530 complaints about non-compliance with the order, according to Assistant County Counselor Lawyer Kirk Sponsel. Of those, 430 are potential violations.
Sedgwick County has sent 22 violation notices, issued six citations and referred another five of six cases to law enforcement, Sponsel said.
Fines can be up to $500.
Vaccination rollout
Minns said vaccinating the more susceptible population at nursing homes hasn’t gone as fast as he had hoped. He didn’t know why since the federal government contracted with Walgreens and CVS to help with the process.
“I’m a little puzzled why it’s taking so long … What’s the holdup with CVS and Walgreens?” Minns said.
Nursing homes were among the first groups targeted for the vaccine because of the higher COVID-19 death rates at those facilities.
Clusters at long-term care facilities, like nursing homes, are responsible for 1,193 of the 2,897 COVID-19 deaths in Kansas, or more than 41%, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Clusters are generally defined as two or more cases of COVID-19 that are linked to the same location within the same time frame.
Sedgwick County also launched a website where residents can track the progress of the vaccine being distributed. The website, at sedgwickcounty.org and under a tab about “exploring COVID-19 vaccine” data, shows more than 5,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Sedgwick County since Dec. 13.
Minns and other physicians will answer vaccine questions during a town hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The meeting will be live streamed on the Sedgwick County Facebook and YouTube pages.
Contributing: Dion Lefler of The Eagle
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 11:39 AM.