Some Johnson County Officials Upset About Hotel Housing Coronavirus Patients

The sheriff and a county commissioner say they were never informed when the state of Kansas started housing COVID-19 patients in a Super 8 hotel in Gardner.

Johnson County Commissioner Mike Brown and Sheriff Calvin Hayden expressed outrage Thursday over the state of Kansas’ decision to isolate COVID-19 patients in a hotel in Gardner.

“We brought positive COVID-19 patients into the heart of my district, around people who aren’t generally sick. That’s damn near criminal. That’s wrong,” Brown said at the county commission’s weekly meeting. “How dare the governor decide to just import that into Johnson County. What in the world? Why aren’t they in Topeka?”

Brown, who represents a southern Johnson County district, including Gardner, was angry that he hadn’t been notified previously, although state officials did alert Johnson County emergency management and health officials.

Brown said he’d received calls from concerned constituents.

Read more: https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-07-09/some-johnson-county-officials-upset-about-hotel-housing-coronavirus-patients