TOPEKA – Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly Wednesday afternoon signed a new executive order extending the stay-at-home order to May 3 as cases of COVID-19 continue to mount in the state. The previous order put in place on March 28th was set to end on Sunday.

Stay-at-home orders mean people, by and large, should not leave their homes except for essential business — work, grocery shopping, seeking medical care or taking care of family or friends who are in need. People can exercise outside, but cannot gather in groups larger than 10, a restriction that includes church services and funerals.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 1,494 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 342 hospitalizations and 76 deaths from the virus.

Kelly said, in her daily afternoon COVID-19 news conference from the Statehouse in Topeka, that she understands the hardships on Kansas families and businesses. She is working with the state and with neighboring states Missouri and Colorado to open the economy up as quickly as possible.

All states but Nebraska that surround Kansas have either statewide stay-at-home orders or partial ones.