Governor Laura Kelly says she’s pleased with certain aspects of the state’s coronavirus response and recovery, but she’s also disappointed with others.
On KVOE’s Newsmaker 2 segment Thursday, the governor said the state responded well to early outbreaks in meatpacking plants and later outbreaks in congregate settings like jails or nursing homes. However, she criticized legislative leaders for developing a patchwork response.
The governor also countered earlier criticisms she didn’t work with Republican leaders behind the scenes enough, especially early in the pandemic. Much of that blowback, she says, came after her stay-home order closing businesses, and she stressed she wants to keep businesses open as much as possible.
Kelly also referenced the current investigation into as many as 45,000 fraudulent benefit claims to the Kansas Department of Labor as part of a larger update on the department’s response to hundreds of thousands of unemployment claims since mid-March. The governor says the current fraudulent claims have been flagged and have not been paid, but she says the department is still investigating the scope of this scam. Kelly also says the Labor Department is still having issues getting caught up to the early demand.
Governor Kelly also expanded on plans announced earlier this week to start what she calls a “unified testing strategy.” This will continue testing of symptomatic patients and close contacts but will also increase routine testing for at-risk congregate settings like nursing homes, jails and schools. Another component could be added later.
Early indications were the state would be into a second wave of virus cases by now, but Kelly says the first wave hasn’t gone away yet. She repeatedly told residents to use the steps that work to limit COVID-19, including mask usage, social distancing and avoiding large groups.
