Kansas’ top health official frustrated, expects cases to rise exponentially

(AP) Kansas’s top public health official says he is frustrated that people are trying to exploit exceptions in local stay-at-home orders meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Dr. Lee Norman warned Kansans Wednesday that “this is not a game” and said residents need to take the virus seriously. State health officials said Kansas now has more than 120 cases of the virus that causes COVID-19. Norman said he expects that number to reach 400 by the end of the month. Locally, that includes three cases in Crawford County, two cases in Cherokee County and one each in Bourbon and Neosho counties.

Also Wednesday, Gov. Laura Kelly signed a state budget that includes $65 million that could be used to fight the coronavirus.