What you need to know

• Saying that Kansas needed to take action to avoid the fate of hard hit states like New York and Missouri, Gov. Laura Kelly on Saturday announced a statewide stay-at-home order that will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The order will be in effect until at least April 19. The order largely mirrors the one issued by Johnson County and other metro area governments last weekend, meaning Johnson County residents and businesses will not see new restrictions in addition to what was already in place.
• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Johnson County topped 100 for the first time on Sunday. KDHE’s daily report listed 101 confirmed cases here. There are now 319 confirmed cases in the state. Six people have died from the infection.
• The Kansas Department of Health and Environment added Louisiana and the entire state of Colorado to its list of locations that will require self-quarantine for Kansans returning home from travel. KDHE had previously put California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Washington state as well as a handful of counties in Colorado on the list.
• The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners is exploring whether to allocate funding to massively ramp up coronavirus testing in hopes that more data would allow officials to devise a strategic plan to stem the spread of the virus here. The county’s deliberations came as health officials raised concerns about the number of intensive care units available in the county.
• An administrative staff member with the Overland Park Fire Department has tested positive for COVID-19, the department confirmed Thursday. As a result, a number of staff from both the fire department and Overland Park Police Department have self-quarantined.
• Johnson County’s largest hospitals are taking steps to conserve personal protective equipment as a worldwide shortage of masks, shields and gowns looms. Meanwhile the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment has begun accepting home-sewn face masks, which will be distributed to healthcare workers and first responders who need them.

Service updates

• Overland Park is closing all of its basketball, tennis and pickleball courts effective today. The closures are in effect until further notice.
• Johnson County Park and Recreation District announced that all of its sport courts will be closed effective March 26. The closures are in an effort to promote social distancing for outdoor activities. The closures include the pickleball courts in Prairie Village’s Meadowbrook Park and basketball and tennis courts in Merriam’s Antioch Park are all closed.
• The Department of Motor Vehicles Offices in Mission and Olathe will be closed to the public starting March 25. Gov. Laura Kelly this week signed an executive order that extends the vehicle registration and renewal filing deadline until 60 days after the state’s disaster emergency proclamation ends.

Note: The Shawnee Mission Post is making much of its local coverage of the coronavirus pandemic accessible to non-subscribers. (If you value having a news source covering the situation in our community, we hope you’ll consider subscribing here).