WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Restaurants won’t have to close early in Kansas’ largest city and bars won’t be shut down as long as a local health officer wanted because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioners in Sedgwick County, home to Wichita, voted 4-1 on Wednesday to make an order from County Health Officer and Dr. Garold Minns less restrictive before the directive takes effect Friday, The Wichita Eagle reported.
Minns’ initial order shut bars down except for carryout and curbside service until Sept. 9. The county commission said the shutdown will last three weeks less, until Aug. 21.
The health officer also announced Tuesday that he would order restaurants to close at 10 p.m. and then directed them to close at 12:01 a.m. if they serve alcohol. The county commission removed the restriction on restaurants entirely.
Minns also sought to drop the limit on public gatherings from 45 people to 15. The county commission said larger gatherings are allowed in venues that can hold 2,000 or more people if groups of 15 can keep at least 6 feet apart.
Commissioner Michael O’Donnell still voted against the less restrictive measure. He said it is putting bar and nightclub employees out of work when they still have bills to pay.
Wichita, Kan. (AP) — A local public health official plans to close bars and restrict restaurant hours in the state’s largest city and the surrounding area until after Labor Day because of a surge in reported coronavirus cases over the past six weeks that’s been far worse than the state’s spike.
Dr. Garold Minns, Sedgwick County’s health officer, told county commissioners Tuesday that he will issue an order to close bars and nightclubs until Sept. 9 and direct restaurants to close at 10 p.m. He said he also plans to drop the limit on public gatherings from 45 to 15 and prohibit fairs, parades and festivals.
Minns issued an order two weeks ago requiring people to wear masks in public places after the county commission initially resisted a mandate.
The commission can change or overrule Minns’ order on bars, restaurants and public gatherings at a meeting Wednesday.
The state health department said Sedgwick County had 3,162 reported novel coronavirus cases as of Monday, a 362% increase from the 684 cases it had on June 10, when the state saw the growth in new cases bottom out after a spike in early May.
During the same period, the state saw its reported number of cases rise 115% to 23,334.