TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Laura Kelly has suspended multiple regulations licensing medical professionals to make it easier for them to work in health care facilities and nursing homes.
The executive order Kelly issued Wednesday suspends requirements that doctors supervise physician assistants, advanced practice practical nurses and licensed practical nurses. The order also allows nurses with inactive or lapsed licenses to provide services and permits medical or nursing students to volunteer to work in health care facilities.
“Our health care facilities need as much flexibility as possible as we approach our projected peak infection rate in the coming days to ensure that hospitals do not become overwhelmed,” Kelly said during a news conference Wednesday.
The governor said the order is a “first step” and health care providers face “broader and more complex challenges.” She said she cannot address them with an executive order and called on the Legislature to consider rewriting licensing laws.
Kelly signed another order Wednesday that allows sales of alcoholic beverages that are not in their original containers. The order applies to bars and clubs but also would allow people to buy single drinks for takeout at restaurants.
In order to prevent drinking while driving, the drinks must be inside a plastic bag that is tamper proof before patrons can take it from the restaurant.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Wednesday reported 2,211 confirmed cases and 110 deaths in the state. The number of infections is likely higher because many people have not been tested and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.
The state corrections department said a woman at the Topeka Correctional Facility has tested positive for COVID-19, the first inmate at the women’s prison to contract the disease. The woman was admitted to the prison from a county jail and was being monitored at an isolation unit, the Department of Corrections said.
The state prison in Lansing, outside Kansas City, has had 110 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 50 among inmates. And cases have been confirmed at Wichita Work Release Facility.
The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services announced that two male staff members at the Kansas Neurological Institute tested positive for COVID-19. They are the first positive cases of either staff or residents at the state hospital for the developmentally disabled.
