Kansas governor Laura Kelly says if coronavirus cases continue to increase during the next week, she may look at a new executive order in early August to return to previous restrictions.

At a news conference Monday, the governor raised concerns about a spike in coronavirus cases, and she said she may issue an order next week to go back to phase two of the Ad Astra reopening plan.  That would close bars and nightclubs and limit mass gatherings to 15 people.   Sedgwick County has already gone back to phase two restrictions, and they’ll be in place through August 21st.

The governor said COVID-19 is affecting younger people, and state health officials now report the average age of cases is now 37.   She believes people have become apathetic about social distancing and avoiding mass gatherings, and that is resulting in the spike.

Kelly said “I do not want to go backwards. We can and we must do better.  We cannot pretend this virus is disappearing with the summer heat, and we cannot pretend it doesn’t hurt Kansans, because it does.”

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is reporting over 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday.    The state is now reporting a total of 26,172 cases in 103 counties with 335 deaths.

Numbers released Monday show 325 outbreaks, or clusters, and 131 are still active.  The outbreaks have accounted for almost 7,500 cases and 235 deaths.    They involve corrections facilities, gatherings, group homes, long-term care facilities and meat-packing plants.

Sedgwick County reported a total of 3,740 cases on Monday, with 2,416 active cases, up 47 cases from Friday.   The county remains at 36 deaths and 1,288 people have recovered. More than 51,000 people have been tested in the county, although there has been a significant backlog in testing because of a lack of staff.    The current waiting period for test results is roughly 5 days, but you may have to wait longer if you tested negative.   County health officials have been working to speed up the process.