Could Kansas finally be on the downhill slide when it comes to COVID-19? A

shows Kansas hit its peak in terms of the number of COVID-19 related deaths per day on Sunday (April 19).

While data continues to change, the latest information could be an indicator for when states can safely begin to ease restrictions.

Wichita bar and restaurant, The Rusty Nail, like many Kansas businesses, has been closed for weeks. The restaurant had to at least temporarily lay off 19 employees, taking an unexpected hit. But it now has a data set for when it hopes to allow patrons back in, even though that will still be far from business as usual.

"Our plans to reopen is to open on May 4," says The Rusty Nail co-owner Kristi Ivy.

April 21 is an anniversary The Rusty Nail would rather not mark.

"We’ve been shut down on the 21st of last month. We’re right at a month, tomorrow. For us being a new business, it's a good amount of time to lose the financial stability," Ivy says.

After sanitizing the business, Ivy says the nine-month old bar and restaurant is hoping to get some sense of business back, although it will not be anything like before, at least not right away.

The reopening plan is to offer curbside, carryout and a pop-up shop, essentially like a grocery store in the bar.

"Restaurant-quality food," Ivy explains. "Even things you don't think about like peppers and limes and a roll of toilet paper. They'll be allowed to come in one at a time."

When will patrons again fill the seats at The Rusty Nail? That's the question that, at least for now, doesn't have an answer.

They have struggled to make progress filing for unemployment and are waiting to hear if they qualify for Small Business Administration relief.

"With the SBA loans, that’s been a very difficult situation. It’s pretty much been a wait, wait, wait. Don’t hear anything," says Ivy.

Even if the stay-at-home orders for Kansas and Sedgwick County end by May 3, the business doesn't know what will immediately follow.

"We assume that's going to be extended for restaurants and bars in some capacity, so planning has been the hardest part of this whole situation because we just don't know what's going to happen next," Ivy says.

The new prediction from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says the process of relaxing some social-distancing measures, for some states, could start the week of May 4. The current time frame for Kansas is June 1. Those dates could easily change, the institute says, depending on when our state's peak happens and the ability to screen for the virus.

"Whether they're ramping up their capacity to undertake testing and contact tracing and isolation," says Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Director Dr. Christopher Murray.

Ivy hopes that can be achieved in Kansas much sooner than June 1.

"(I) miss the day-to-day activities and seeing our regulars and new customers," she says.