Pott. County Commission votes to end local emergency declaration

The Pottawatomie County Commission voted Monday to end an emergency declaration that has been in place since March 2020.

The county health officer and all three commissioners were in favor of the move, including commissioner Greg Riat.

Emergency Management director Jennifer Merrow says the county has not had to order any personal protective equipment (PPE) for a while.

However, she says it is still in line to get a shipment of PPE this week from the North East Kansas Healthcare Coalition.

A panel of mostly Republican state senators allowed the statewide order to expire on June 15.

This was after Governor Laura Kelly expressed in a letter to Republican leaders her desire to extend the order to July 15.

While multiple states have also ended their emergency declarations, the federal order will remain in effect for at least a couple more weeks.