Published: November 16, 2020
COVID-19
Announcement
Post Date:11/16/2020 12:20 PM
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 16, 2020
Contact: Morgan Said
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas—in consultation with Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer, M.D. and Emergency Medical Services Medical Director Erica Carney, M.D.—today announced Safer at Home guidelines for a partial slowdown of activity in Kansas City as our community continues its work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“We are in the toughest moment since this virus came into our communities, and overcoming this crisis requires an aggressive and immediate response,” said Mayor Lucas. “State lines, county lines, and city lines are nothing more than street names. It takes leadership and all of us—our entire region—to slow the spread.”
“Our Safer at Home guidelines are based on recommendations from health leaders in Kansas City, in Jackson, Platte and Clay Counties in Missouri, and Wyandotte and Johnson County in Kansas,” continued Mayor Lucas. “We all have a role to play in slowing the spread of COVID-19. We are Safer at Home and I encourage all Kansas Citians to significantly limit their activity as we work to mitigate the spread of this virus, which will help decrease the strain on our hospitals and healthcare workers and keep your families safe.”
“Without these additional protective measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission, we as a community will continue to see this epidemic spiral out of control,” said Dr. Archer. “Not only are we seeing record increases in new cases and COVID deaths, we will also experience additional deaths that could have been saved if there was room in the hospitals to treat these other conditions. If everyone takes personal responsibility to follow our new orders dozens of lives will be saved.”
"At this rate of widespread of transmission, our hospitals are experiencing unprecedented capacity issues,” said Dr. Carney. "With a worrisome spike in COVID-19 cases, the health system is quickly running out of beds and staff to be able to handle this influx of patients. We have no capacity. Slowing down the rate of infection must be everyone's top priority."
Mayor Lucas, Dr. Archer, and Dr. Carney strongly recommend businesses to allow their employees to work remotely to the fullest extent possible, and families to avoid holiday gatherings.
New guidelines are as follows:
Any violations of this order can be sent to COVIDViolations@kcmo.org.
Click here for Eleventh Amended Order. Click here for a full list of FAQs.
Kansas Citians interested in signing up for text updates from the City of Kansas City regarding COVID-19 should text COVIDKC to 888-777. For more information, visit the CDC’s website at cdc.gov/coronavirus or kcmo.gov/coronavirus. You may also call the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services hotline at 877-435-8411 for questions regarding COVID-19 in Missouri.