photo by: Associated Press

Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Lee Norman, center, answers questions about a COVID-19-related death of a man in his 70s in a Kansas City, Kan., area nursing home, the state's first fatality linked to the coronavirus, Thursday, March 12, 2020, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Watching are Gov. Laura Kelly, left, and Laura Howard, right, the state's secretary for aging and disability services. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

TOPEKA — Staff and other residents at a Kansas City, Kansas, nursing home tested negative for coronavirus after a resident became Kansas’ first COVID-19 related death, the local government health officer said Monday.

Eighty-five patients and staff from the Life Care Center were tested, said Dr. Allen Greiner, the Wyandotte County health department’s health officer. He said another 20 coronavirus tests are pending with the state health department involving people who’ve had contact with the man in his 70s who died.

Gov. Laura Kelly is recommending that schools remain closed this week, and federal officials say gatherings of 50 or more people should be canceled for the next two months to check the spread of the coronavirus. Kansas health officials said Monday that people should avoid gatherings of more than a few people.

Kansas has nine confirmed coronavirus cases in four counties, and the fatal case is Wyandotte County’s only one. Six cases are in neighboring Johnson County.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority recover. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.