KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Core 4 is now the Core 3, as leaders of three counties in the metro say they’re coordinating efforts to end stay-at-home orders.
Jackson, Johnson and Wyandotte counties seek to implement a uniform reopening of the local economy.
But different dates are creating confusion among the public. The three counties have decided to end their stay-at-home orders at 11:59 p.m. May 10 and begin easing public health restrictions starting May 11.
This remains in conflict with Kansas City, Missouri, which Wednesday announced its transition plan beginning May 6, although most city businesses won’t be able to resume operations until May 15.
In March, the so-called “Core 4” were united in announcing similar restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
With Kansas City, Missouri, conspicuously absent now, this attempt to minimize different rules for reopening across the metro may fall short of that goal.
The leaders concede there still will be individual plans for each jurisdiction.
“When Kansas City announced their plan, that caught everybody a little off guard,” said Frank White, Jackson County executive. “What Mayor Alvey and Chairman Eilert and we have been discussing all along, is we had so many different dates and we just wanted to come to a date that would just cut down the confusion among people.
“I know we originally were at the 15th; they were at the 3rd. We talked to our health officials to come up with a date that they thought would be comfortable for us to work with that turned out to be the 10th starting on the 11th.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced her statewide reopening plan Thursday, and there are some differences from what Johnson County’s reopening task force is recommending.
Chairman Ed Eilert said the county will follow the state plan, which would end nearly all restrictions on June 1 if there is no resurgence of the virus.
The counties agree that their emphasis will be on protecting the most vulnerable populations, with safeguards likely to remain in place longer at nursing homes and long-term care centers.
Here is Jackson County’s announcement on ending its stay-at-home order.
Here is Johnson County, Kansas’ announcement on its stay-at-home order.
Here is Wyandotte County’s announcement on its stay-at-home order.
