With Kansas’ “steepest rate of increase” of COVID-19 cases occurring over the past two weeks, Governor Laura Kelly continued to implore Kansas residents to wear a mask to help limit community spread during her weekly press conference Monday.
According to Kelly, the state has seen an increase of nearly 3,500 cases in the past two weeks, bringing the total state case count to more than 16,000. Kelly says this includes an increase of nearly 1,000 new cases since Friday and an increase of 14 new clusters, seven of which are connected to social gatherings at bars and restaurants.
Kelly noted that, at this time, there are no clusters connected to barber shops, nail salons or any other close contact service where mask-wearing is either strongly encouraged or required.
During her press conference, Governor Kelly was asked if she felt it was a mistake to lift certain COVID restrictions back in May. She responded with a resounding no.
Kelly was later asked if the Kansas economy has seen any bounce back since restrictions were eased, to which she responded she does not believe the projected impacts, reflected in April revenue consensus reports, were “as bad as they originally predicted.” Additionally, as it pertains to a potential rollback of capacity limits at bars and restaurants, Kelly says local elected officials have the power to make those decisions if they feel it is necessary.
Kelly also stated that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is currently recommending that all Kansas counties remain in phase three of the Ad Astra reopening plan as the metrics continue their upward trend. On top of wearing masks, Kelly also implored residents to continue following best health practices, including social distancing and frequent hand washing as the pandemic continues.
Separately Monday, Governor Kelly addressed a recent cartoon published by Dane Hicks on the Anderson County Review’s Facebook page. The cartoon equated Governor Kelly’s mandatory mask-wearing policy issued last week to the Holocaust, which Governor Kelly called deeply offensive.
Kelly says the cartoon served as an example of “how politicized common-sense public health measures have become.” She would go on to state that Hicks had since apologized for the cartoon and that it does “not reflect the values of Anderson County or Kansas.”
Governor Kelly is scheduled to hold her next news conference at 4 pm next Monday.
