Kansas governor Laura Kelly said Monday she is concerned about the state’s ability to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and she’s concerned about the rise in cases and deaths over the past few weeks.

The governor held her weekly news briefing after the state reported an increase of over 1,600 cases from the weekend, bringing the state’s total to almost 54,000 cases with 600 deaths.   She said the virus continues to spread at an alarming rate.

Kelly said because of certain legislative leaders, Kansas has been left with a patchwork of local mask mandates, instead of a statewide policy like 34 other states have.  She said a bill passed by the legislature in June did not have a strategy for testing or the delivery of a vaccine.   She said there must be a coherent, coordinated mitigation strategy to get control of the virus.  In the meantime she is urging people to wear a mask, whether it’s mandated or not, to follow social distancing practices and to avoid large gatherings.

The governor said Kansas is an island in the Midwest as a state that has not expanded Medicaid.  She said she is also concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider another case to repeal the Affordable Care Act in November.  She said if the court does strike down the ACA, more than one million Kansans with pre-existing conditions will be in danger of losing their health insurance, including those with the coronavirus.   She said that would also prevent the expansion of Medicaid to another 150,000 Kansans.

The governor said her administration has announced new transportation projects and there are plans for broadband expansion, and some new economic development projects have been announced over the past few months with new jobs being created.   She said if the state can’t get a handle on the spread of the virus, “we will not maintain our successes.”   She said business leaders always want to know if Kansas can provide them with a healthy workforce, and she said the path to economic growth is dependent upon healthy Kansans.