HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Over the last two weeks, the Reno County Health Department has been working with the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce and the Reno County Economic Recovery Taskforce (RCERT) to present recommendations for reopening Reno County. On Thursday evening, Governor Laura Kelly outlined the first phase of the reopening plan for Kansas local governments. This framework allows Kansas counties to retain the ability to enact more restrictive orders, but not less restrictive. Reno County, at this time, does not plan to place any further restrictions over and above that which is outlined in the Governor’s phased plan timeline. Those phases and timelines are summarized in the attached spreadsheet and the full plan can be found at covid.ks.gov.
Based on the Governor Laura Kelly’s guidelines, businesses, except those specified in the state plan, will be allowed to begin opening on May 4th as directed by Kansas executive order.
Businesses not specifically prohibited may open if they can:
• Maintain at least six feet of distance between individuals or groups.
• Follow fundamental cleaning and public health practices. Additional sector-specific best practices guidance is also strongly encouraged.
• Avoid instances in which groups of more than 10 people are in one location and unable to maintain a six-foot distance with only infrequent or incidental moments of close proximity.
Additional general guidelines included in the plan consist of:
• Encouraging telework whenever possible.
• Individuals are strongly encouraged to wear cloth masks and employers should follow industry-specific guidance on mask use in the workplace.
• Require any employees with symptoms to stay home.
• Minimize or eliminate non-essential travel.
• Reconfigure spaces in your business to enable people to be located at least 6-feet apart and incorporate physical barriers where possible.
• Provide signage at public entrances to inform all employees and customers of social distancing guidelines mandated within the business.
Establishments and activities not allowed to open in Phase One include bars and nightclubs (except those already providing curbside/carryout service, indoor leisure spaces (theaters, museums, etc., casinos (non-tribal, fitness centers and gyms, personal service businesses where close contact cannot be avoided (hair and nail salons, barber shops, etc., community centers, fairs, festivals, parades, graduations, public swimming pools, organized sports facilities, and summer camps.
Additional guiding principles have also been compiled by the RCERT sub-committees and will be posted at hutchchamber.com/coronavirus to aide in best practices with industry specific recommendations. As additional guidance is released by the State of Kansas, it will also be made available as well.
When determining if the state is ready to move to the next phase, Governor Laura Kelly will evaluate the state’s disease spread, testing rates, death rates, hospitalizations, ability of state and local public health authorities to contain outbreaks and conduct contract tracing, and availability of personal protective equipment. Regardless of phase, the Reno County Health Officer retains the authority to impose additional public health interventions in any area that contains an emergent and significant public health risk.
On behalf of Reno County and the RCERT, Co-chairs Nicholas Baldetti and Debra Teufel wish to thank the over 300 individuals who contributed their valuable time and efforts toward the formulation of specific guidance toward the reopening of Reno County.