Sedgwick County commissioner Jim Howell said Tuesday that the county should appeal to hospitals and nursing homes to be more lenient toward visitors from family as Covid-19 restrictions remain in place while the county's positive test rate continues to fall.
"I'm very concerned that this has gotten out of balance," Howell said. "There were health exceptions in the order that (county health officer Garold) Minns issued, but a lot of our businesses, private businesses, hospitals and nursing homes are making no exceptions whatsoever for what I would say is kind of a common-sense issue.
"I know that these are not necessarily policies that we have control over. We are not the change agent, we're not the ones that can change the policy to force something different than what's going on, but I think we ought to speak to it."
Howell said he asked county manager Tom Stolz to prepare a proclamation, a non-binding measure, to encourage nursing homes to ease restrictions on visitations. Long-term care facilities are largely privately owned and regulated by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
On Monday, the county's 14-day rolling positive coronavirus test rate dipped under 6% for the first time since late June.
Commissioner Michael O'Donnell said he would support a proclamation but noted that long-term care facilities are often sued over care of those living in the facility.
Commission chairman Pete Meitzner said Wichita hospitals — Ascension Via Christi, Wesley, and the Dole VA Medical Center — indicated during a Monday conference call that they are working on plans that would ease restrictions on visitors.
Commissioners were divided on how quickly a proclamation could be written and vetted.