Plans for the state to transition from response to recovery efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic could be rolling out very soon.
That’s according to Governor Laura Kelly who, during her daily press briefing Friday, stated that recent COVID case numbers may be indicating the state is close to if not already at its projected peak infection rate. If this is accurate, Governor Kelly says this would mean the state is on the downward slope of the pandemic and can begin the transition to recovery efforts by next week.
The state’s financial predicament came into sharper focus at the start of the week when it was announced that a near $1.3 billion budget shortfall is looming over the next 14 months due to coronavirus impacts to the state economy. Much like during her press conference Thursday, Governor Kelly stated that direct flexible aid from the federal level is imperative at this time.
The state will be receiving funds from the federal CARES Act; however, Governor Kelly says what the act offers in terms of sum it lacks in flexibility for spending.
Governor Kelly says as she has had time to reflect on the state’s financial situation, she found recent suggestions from the federal level for impacted states to simply “file for bankruptcy” to be alarming and frustrating saying “I don’t even know what that means.” Governor Kelly concluded her statements announcing she had sent a letter to the state’s federal delegation both “conveying the severity of our fiscal forecast” and urging support for an additional COVID-19 relief package providing flexible direct state aid.
Separately, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman announced staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta have arrived in Kansas to assist in state response efforts. The staff has begun attending incident command meetings according to Norman.
Three of the staff are currently located in southwest Kansas working with meatpacking plants in the area which have experienced outbreaks and four others are in Topeka working with KDHE’s epidemiology team and lab staff. Norman says “they have already been very helpful additions to our team.”
Governor Kelly is scheduled to continue her daily news briefings Monday at 2 pm. The conference can be heard in its entirety on KVOE 1400 am and 96.9 fm.
