At 11 am today, Governor Laura Kelly announced a statewide Stay At Home Order. Up to today, counties made this choice on a county-by-county basis. However, the number and geographic distribution of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kansas necessitated a statewide order. The order will go into effect as of 12:01 am, Monday, March 30 and extend through April 19, and the state will continue review. 

Kansas is the 23rd state to issue such an order, and our largest counties have already been under these orders for about a week. While we think this has helped to slow the spread, it has not been enough, especially considering our state’s hospital capacity  The state is working with the private sector to expand testing capacity as they estimate confirmed cases in Kansas could hit 900 over the next week. 

Kansans have been very creative about social distancing. I saw Facebook posts of cruising main in Great Bend, there are thousands of concerts and other performances by celebrities, as well as some very talented kids.