Several lane and ramp closures are planned Thursday in Wyandotte County. (KDOT map)
Ramp and lane closures are scheduled in Wyandotte County, Thursday, May 28, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Traffic on all these projects will be diverted using mobile lane closures, signs and traffic cones, according to a spokesman.
For pothole patching, closures include: • Intermittent lane closures on northbound and southbound I-435, from the Kansas River to the Missouri River, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
To install pavement markings, the closures include: • The single right lane of southbound I-635 from 43rd Street to K-32, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. And the following ramps will close at 8:30 a.m.: • Southbound I-635 to State Avenue, • Eastbound State Avenue to southbound I-635, • Westbound State Avenue to southbound I-635, • Southbound I-635 to westbound I-70.
KDOT urged all motorists to be alert and obey the warning signs when approaching and driving through a highway work zone, the spokesman stated. To stay aware of all road construction projects across Kansas go to www.kandrive.org or call 5-1-1. Motorists were asked to drive safely and always wear their seat belts, according to the spokesman.
There were 9,337 positive COVID-19 cases in 88 counties, with 205 deaths, on Wednesday. (KDHE map)This state chart showed symptom onset date in blue and date of diagnosis in orange. (KDHE chart)New cases in Kansas were in blue and total cases were a yellow line. (KDHE chart)
Today Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, urged county health officers to monitor their hospital bed capacity diligently.
Health orders are now effective at the county level since the state level plan has become guidance, not mandatory, for the entire state. Wyandotte County health officials adopted the state plan and issued a health order last week making the state plan mandatory in Wyandotte County currently.
Dr. Norman said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be working closely with county health officials on monitoring hospital bed capacity.
He said he was extremely disappointed and frustrated by photos and videos showing individuals not practicing health recommendations at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri over the Memorial Day weekend. He had urged caution before the holiday. He has asked those Kansans who participated in the Ozarks event without social distancing to self-quarantine.
Those involved have now gone to other counties and probably other states, including Kansas, according to Dr. Norman.
He asked people to use extreme caution and to remain vigilant.
“This virus has not gone away,” he said. While there are efforts to develop a vaccine, “there is no vaccine available.”
What they have done in the past few months has pushed down the infectivity of the virus, but it has not gone away, and will not go away if they continue to show laxity toward it, he said.
“If we see the conduct like we saw at the Lake of the Ozarks, we’re going to see an increase and perhaps a startling increase in the number of cases,” Dr. Norman said.
He urged businesses and organizations to continue to look at the Ad Astra plan for reopening guidance.
“In the next several weeks, we are entering uncharted, experimental waters,” Dr. Norman said. “It will show us how the reopening efforts have impacted disease spread. I predict that some counties in Kansas will fare well, and some will fare very poorly. I don’t like experimenting with people, and I consider this next period of time to be an experiment in disease spread, and how it takes further root in our citizenry.
“Remember, you are your own preparedness. Wear a mask, wash hands often and practice social distancing,” he said.
He, the governor and the Kansas emergency management director are now looking at the possibility of a second wave, he said. They’ve come through a first wave and are showing a progressive increase, he said. The numbers in all three reopening metrics are improving, and if people are diligent, the numbers will continue to improve, he said. Historically, many pandemics have had a second wave.
“We should not assume that we have to have a second wave,” Dr. Norman said. “What we should do is, yes, prepare for a seond wave, and a wave can come in ripples, it can come in a big peak, it can come in multiple peaks.”
They don’t have the ability to predict how a second wave will appear, but they do feel there will be a second wave of COVID-19, Dr. Norman said, especially with laxity in how people attend to the public health restrictions that should continue to be practiced.
One thing they can do is to take a little different look and ask what they can do to make a second wave not occur in the state, he said. That’s what he considers to be his agency’s call to arms, he said.
Dr. Norman reported 9,337 positive COVID-19 cases in 88 counties, with 205 deaths, on Wednesday. This is a cumulative total.
That compared to 9,218 cases, an increase of 119, from 88 counties, with 188 deaths on Monday, May 25, according to KDHE records. Dr. Norman said the 17 increased deaths were due to the way the deaths have been reported, with some of them coming in in bunches.
Dr. Norman said the state continues to monitor 113 clusters. A cluster at Lansing Correctional Facility is starting to see good results from cohorting inmates who are infected away from those who are not, he said. They are retesting inmates who are negative, and that rate is declining, which is an encouraging sign, he said.
Another cluster was from a gathering at Lake Perry in the first week of May, and they are seeing increased case numbers from it, he added.
The state reported the total number of cases in Wyandotte County at 1,315. Counties near Wyandotte County included Leavenworth, which had 1,073 cases, and Johnson, which had 788, according to KDHE.
Ford County reported 1,628 cases; Finney County, 1,417; Seward County, 838; Sedgwick County, 543; Lyon County, 386; Shawnee County, 272; Jackson County, Kansas, 91; Douglas County, 63; and Riley County, 62, according to KDHE.
Wyandotte County, on its COVID-19 webpage at 1:05 p.m. today, reported a smaller increase of positive COVID-19 cases from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, with four more cases, totaling 1,276, and no new deaths from Tuesday, totaling 72. (UG COVID-19 webpgae)
At a news conference on Wednesday morning, University of Kansas Health System doctors discussed the topic of reopening sports.
Dr. David Smith, youth sports medicine medical director at KU Health System, said youth had missed spring sports and are revved up and ready to go with summer sports.
However, he said coaches, parents and youth need to be cautious as they start back.
Dr. Smith, on the advisory committee for the Kansas State High School Athletic Association, said the state organization has issued guidelines on returning to activities. They will allow a return to youth sports on June 1, following guidelines set by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Some school districts will start youth sports on June 1, while some will wait to June 15 and July 6, he said.
He added he hopes youth will be smarter than some of the adults seen on videos last weekend at pool parties in the Ozarks.
Dr. Smith said there could be some changes ahead for sports, such as not switching sides in volleyball, or perhaps football linemen wearing face shields. Some of the ideas are not yet approved.
Dr. Vincent Key, who is a doctor to the Kansas City Royals, said parents need to be cautious and very thoughtful in terms of getting their youth back out and into athletics.
Dr. Key said if anyone at home is immune-compromised or has an underlying disease, such as lung disease, the parents have to take all of those factors into consideration when letting the child return to sports.
“It’s not just the child, it’s everyone around the child, the entire family,” he said.
Dr. Smith said if one person on the team gets COVID-19 it could, in theory, shut down the whole season for the team, as the other athletes could have to quarantine. The young athletes will need to be honest if they are not feeling well, and stay home if they are sick.
Nick Kenny, trainer for the Kansas City Royals, said at the news conference that he would let his child play sports if it’s appropriate. However, if a member in the family is immune-compromised, they would have to weigh the risk of allowing a child to play a sport resulting in bringing something back to a person in the household.
Kenny said the Royals are staying ready and staying fit, waiting for the reopening.
Keeping safe in the Royals dugout will be the same as being safe anywhere else, and will include staying six feet away from others as much as possible, and not sharing items, he said. There will be no high-fives, no fist bumping, no spitting, and players will use hand sanitizer, he said. There will be a person who will have the job of making sure everyone in the dugout is socially distancing and following health guidelines, he said.
Dr. Key said youth teams, including high school teams, may want to appoint a volunteer parent to make sure social distancing and health practices are maintained in dugouts.
Kenny said they would love to have the fans back in the stadium, and a lot is dependent on the recommendation of Major League Baseball, as well as what the mayor and governor think. A task force meets on the topic of a reopening plan every Wednesday.
Wyandotte County’s parks department has issued guidelines about what’s allowed at the local parks. For example, courts and fields located at the parks are open, but are limited to non-contact sports, with proper social distancing and no more than 15 people. The local rules rely on KPRA reopening guidelines. The county rules are at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County, on its COVID-19 webpage today, reported a smaller increase of positive COVID-19 cases from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, with four more cases, totaling 1,276, and no new deaths from Tuesday, totaling 72.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said they may be just starting to see any changes that may have occurred with the reopening plan going into effect two weeks ago. They won’t know if there are any upticks in the number based on Memorial Day partying until about two weeks from now. Dr. Stites said they are now seeing a number of young people who are patients, with a lot of them getting better and going home.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said there were 20 COVID-19 patients at KU Health System on Wednesday, with eight in the intensive care unit and three on ventilation. The numbers were similar to Tuesday.
