Sedgwick County’s stay-at-home order could save lives — but it’s not a done deal

A majority of Sedgwick County Commissioners made the right call Monday, voting to recommend a stay-at-home order to try to curb the spread of a potentially deadly virus.

Unfortunately, it’s not a done deal. Before the restrictions could take effect, public health officer Garold Minns would have to sign off on the order.

That’s the same Garold Minns who on Sunday suggested that stronger restrictions could wait until “we start seeing a number of patients in the ICUs on the ventilators.”

He told commissioners that “this virus doesn’t treat most people too badly.”

He said the economic, political and social consequences of a lengthy and widespread shutdown “would be worse than just letting everyone get the disease.”

State law gives Minns, as the local health director, authority over infectious disease measures such as quarantines or shelter-in-place orders.

Two Sedgwick County commissioners — Jim Howell and Michael O’Donnell — wanted to let Minns make that call himself, rather than taking the lead and recommending tighter restrictions, as so many other elected officials have done.

The Sedgwick County Medical Society, which represents 1,250 physicians, sent a letter to commissioners on Monday that called for a “shelter-in-place order that would be reassessed in two weeks.”

“Because a surge of new cases could quickly overwhelm our hospital systems and put citizens’ lives at risk, it is critical to take action now to decrease local spread,” said the letter, signed by society board president Patricia Wyatt-Harris.

Commission chairman Pete Meitzner said hospital administrators warned him that the county could have as many as 1,000 active, undetected cases of coronavirus.

Commissioners also heard from two physicians in person — Chloe Steinshouer, a pulmonologist, and Thomas Moore, an infectious disease specialist — who said a prompt stay-at-home order offers our best chance to get a handle on the coronavirus before it overwhelms local hospitals.

But that wasn’t enough for Howell and O’Donnell, who favored foot-dragging and buck-passing over action.

“I don’t want to overrun our hospitals,” Howell said. But we shouldn’t “upend everything in life while we’re trying to protect life.”

Fortunately, logic prevailed Monday, with Meitzner and David Dennis backing Lacey Cruse’s motion to recommend a stay-at-home order that’s already at least a day late.

“We can talk about this every single day, but what does that accomplish?” said Cruse, who pushed for the order Sunday. “People want to know what the heck we’re gonna do.”

Alarmingly, the commissioners spent much of their time Monday cataloging the numerous potential exceptions to a stay-at-home order, which raises the question: What exactly are they restricting? The list of possible essential businesses included grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and auto shops, as well as liquor stores, golf courses and gun shops.

In the end, a majority recommended the order. If Minns approves it — he should, and quickly — residents must stay home as much as possible, follow social distancing guidelines and do their part to protect themselves and their neighbors.

It’s the least we can do.

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 7:55 PM.