Shawnee County health officer says they’ll follow governor’s lead in next phase in reopening

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — While Governor Kelly announced plans for the state to enter the next phase in reopening on Friday, it’s up to local counties on how they want to move forward.

Shawnee County Health Officer Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino said Shawnee County plans on following the governor’s lead.

They’ll be looking over the plan to determine if they need to implement any extra restrictions before Friday.

He said when it comes to making these decisions, it’s all about finding the right balance. They want to make sure people feel safe entering this new phase, but they also don’t want people to become complacent in following safety guidelines

“Just use your judgement and try to be aware of your situations,” Pezzino said. “Right now, I think we are going in the right direction. I like what I’m seeing around. I like that people are excited about reopening their businesses. I like that the vast majority of businesses I think are following the rules that we established.”

He also said that the number of positive cases in Shawnee County from last week were better than the two weeks before that. But the numbers will continue to fluctuate as a result of more testing and clusters that are in the county.