Kansas Governor issues statewide stay-at-home order

Gov. Laura Kelly announced on Saturday a statewide mandate stay-at-home order to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Gov. Kelly said the order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday and last through April 19th.

The order makes it clear that essential businesses will still be able to maintain operations during the mandate period.

Kelly issued the stay-at-home order for the state’s roughly 2.9 million residents after local officials in Kansas’ most populous counties issued their own versions within the past week.

More than 2.1 million residents were already under or facing stay-at-home orders.Kansas has had more than 200 cases of the virus, including four people who died.

Kansas is now one of nearly two dozen states to issue stay-at-home orders.

The order received a response from members of the Kansas House including Rep. Dan Hawkins, Rep. Ron Ryckman and Rep. Blaine Finch.

In a joint statement, they said, “The order announced by the Governor today will no doubt impact our families and our businesses. As members of the Legislative Coordinating Council we have a duty to carefully assess this executive order and the reasons for it.”