By ORLIN WAGNER and MARGARET STAFFORD

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A growing protest movement against stay-at-home orders designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus reached Kansas City Monday, with between 75 and 100 people attending a rally to demand that the orders be lifted.

The event near the city's Country Club Plaza followed similar protests that began across the country last week, with some drawing much larger crowds.

Some people stood nearby the protesters in medical garb to support the orders, which require people to stay home except for essential business and ban gatherings of more than 10 people.

The protesters waved signs and U.S. flags and yelled their belief that the orders are unnecessary, are damaging the economy and violate the rights of U.S. citizens.

Another protest that had urged people to show up at City Hall and disrupt traffic and business there fizzled, with fewer than a dozen people showing up.

Government and health officials argue that the orders are necessary to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Kansas City Mayor Quenton Lucas announced last week that he was extending the city’s stay-at-home order until May 15.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has issued a stay-at-home order through May 3 but he said last week the state plans to take steps to begin reopening its economy the next day.

UNIVERSITY BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENTS

Washington University in St. Louis told employees Monday that it expects to furlough about 1,300 employees without pay for 90-day periods in response to budget difficulties caused by the coronarvirus pandemic.

The university, which has about 17,944 employees, said most of the furloughs in May, June and July would come from the Medical Campus, where clinics are seeing 60% fewer patients and the medical school expects a $150 million revenue loss through the end of the fiscal year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The letter was signed by Chancellor Andrew Martin; David Perlmutter, the dean of the medical school and Henry Webber, the executive vice chancellor and chief administrative officer.

And employees of the University of Missouri-Kansas City were told in an email Monday that furloughs and layoffs are possible after all academic departments and administrative units were told to reduce their budgets by between 12.5% and 17.5%, KCUR reported.

Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal said he would appoint a task force this week to help determine the university's future in light of the budget cuts.

Officials with the University of Missouri System warned last week that the spread of COVID-19 could cost the system's four campuses up to $180 million.

MISSOURI DEATH/CASE STATISTICS

As of Monday, Missouri has recorded 199 deaths and 5,807 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.