KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is set to announce new steps in the state's battle with COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon.
The announcement comes as Kansas is ranked fifth in the nation for highest positivity rate in the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report on the state.
The report says Johnson, Sedgwick and Shawnee counties account for 42.2% of new cases in the last three weeks.
In total, 86% of Kansas counties are experiencing moderate to high levels of community spread.
The task force wrote Kansas is seeing “exponential and unyielding spread across the state,” but it is “encouraged by the bold steps Kansas is taking to find the asymptomatic individuals to slow the spread.”
Those efforts fall under the state’s unified testing strategy.
Kelly is expected Wednesday to provide an update on that front in addition to new tactics to slow community spread.
At her press conference last week, Kelly said she planned to announce more details about a public service campaign to encourage mask wearing and social distancing in local communities.
The campaign is a joint effort between her office and the Republican-led legislature.
The legislature requested the campaign as a compromise after Kelly requested a special session to potentially restore her power to implement a statewide mask mandate.
Legislators instead suggested a more concentrated effort to stress the importance of basic COVID-19 precautions to local leaders in hopes they will take action.
41 Action News will stream the governor's press conference at 4 p.m.
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