Governor shows her flexibility as she amends her Reopen Kansas Plan once again, this time opening even more recreational facilities. 

In a follow-up to last week’s plan revisions to include “Phase 1.5,” today Kansas governor Laura Kelly announced revisions to the plans Phase 2 to include the opening of several more recreation facilities across the state. 

Here’s what will be allowed to open beginning May 22, in time for the Memorial Day Holiday. 

Community Centers will be allowed to open, except for indoor and outdoor swimming pools;

Indoor leisure spaces such as arcades, trampoline parks, theaters, museums and bowling allies will be

State-owned-and-operated casinos will be allowed to open once their re-opening plan has been approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment;

In-person group exercise classes will be allowed to begin with groups of no more than 15 at a time. Locker rooms will remain closed except for restroom facilities.

Everything opened in Phase 1 and Phase 1.5 remains open pursuant to the restrictions outlined in Executive Order 20-34.

Recreational organized sports facilities, tournaments and practices will be allowed to begin on Fri. May 22, and must adhere to social distancing requirements and follow Parks and Recs guidelines, which can be found on covid.ks.gov;

Mass gatherings are still limited to 15 individuals. 

Still excluded from reopening are: 

Bars and night clubs, excluding curbside and carryout services;

Outdoor and indoor large entertainment venues with capacity of 2,000 or more;

Fairs, festivals, carnivals, parades;

Swimming pools (other than backyard pools);

Assuming current trends continue, Phase 2 will last until Sun., June 7. Phase 3 is expected to begin on Mon., June 8, with mass gatherings of more than 45 individuals prohibited.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, all of my administration’s decision-making regarding our reopening efforts has been driven by data – not dates,” Kelly said. “Because of the great work Kansans and businesses have done to keep others safe, data now indicate we are seeing a more consistent decline in hospitalizations, COVID-19-related deaths and a consistent decrease in disease spread. This puts our state in a position to safely move into a modified version of Phase 2.

“I would like to be clear – moving forward in Kansas’ reopening plan does not mean that COVID-19 no longer threatens our communities. Modifying Phase 2 to keep some restrictions allows us to reopen Kansas’ economy as quickly and safely as possible, while exercising necessary caution to keep Kansans healthy.”

Click here to read the governor’s Ad Astra reopening plan.