Month: September 2020

Kansas might see higher COVID-19 rates in a few weeks

The two-week percent positivity rate is one of the measures used to determine whether schools can stay open. Wyandotte County’s two-week percent positivity rate was 8.95 percent. The national average is around 5 percent. (KDHE map, https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas)
The Wyandotte County COVID-19 webpage reported an additional 32 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday afternoon, with a cumulative total of 6,621. There was one additional death, with a cumulative total of 134. (From UG COVID-19 webpage)

Kansas could be about two weeks away from seeing if there is another rise in COVID-19 rates from Labor Day activities and the start of school, according to a state epidemiologist.

Capt. John Rule, epidemiologist with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said at a news conference Tuesday morning with the University of Kansas Health System that it could be October until they are seeing any change in the case rates from the start of school.

In Kansas, cases rates had been dropping consistently since early August, he said, while in the United States, there have been two mini-waves, one in the spring and one in the summer.

In Kansas, there was a wave within the second wave starting in early August that had mostly to do with the start of school and sports, he said.

Capt. Rule said they probably won’t see huge changes in a lot of COVID-19 numbers in Kansas for another two weeks.

In some of the rural counties, the 14-day case rate is starting to be in the top tier, he said. Hays or Ellis County was third in the state as of Monday, with three to six times the number of cases per population that Wyandotte, Douglas and Johnson counties have, according to Dr. Rule.

The KDHE website coronavirus dashboard added school gating criteria about three weeks ago that includes the weekly cumulative incidence, one of the measures that is used to determine whether schools should be kept open, he said. (https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas) Another figure often looked at is the percent positivity rate. Those measures are updated every Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, Wyandotte County’s case rate per 100,000 was dropping, and was at 112, he said. Last week the rate increased to 128 per 100,000, he said. The number of new cases reported last week in Wyandotte County was 212, according to the metric.

Similarly, two weeks ago Johnson County had a decreasing trend, 103 cases per 100,000, he said. Last week it increased to 109 per 100,000. Last week, Johnson County had 660 new cases, according to the metric.

When schools were deciding what to do in mid-August, many of the districts were telling the state that they were going to start school in person, according to Capt. Rule. Locally, the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools started with the first nine weeks of remote learning, while some other nearby districts used a hybrid formula of part in-person and part remote.

As each week has gone by, the percentage of hybrid or remote learning has gone up little by little in the state, he said. All decisions are made by the local school boards, based on the metrics.

Capt. Rule said the trend in October and November, unfortunately, will probably see more and more schools that are making the hard decisions to go to remote or hybrid learning.

There have been shifts in the hotspots in Kansas, starting in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, then moving to other areas, such as counties with meatpacking plants, and later to other areas, such as Wichita. Recently there have been clusters centered around universities, schools and child sporting events, he said.

COVID-19 now is shifting to the younger population, he said, but they still have nursing homes that are hotspots, also. The nursing homes now have been mandated by the federal government to be regularly tested, he added. A single case in a nursing home is treated like an outbreak, with testing following.

“We still have new individuals, like the young, but the elder or long-term care facilities, is something we pursue,” he said.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health Center, reported 24 patients at the KU Health System on Tuesday morning, up from 15 on Monday morning. He said there were seven patients in the intensive care unit, an increase from four on Monday, and three on ventilators, the same as Monday. Twenty-four other COVID-19 patients were at the hospital but were no longer classified as acute patients, a decrease from 28 on Monday.

Hays Med reported 14 cases.

The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the metropolitan Kansas City area was about 300, up from about 250 a few weeks ago.

The Wyandotte County COVID-19 webpage reported an additional 32 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday afternoon, with a cumulative total of 6,621. There was one additional death, with a cumulative total of 134.

Free testing continues Wednesday

Free pop-up COVID-19 testing continues from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Judson Baptist Church, 8300 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.


The free pop-up testing is through the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force and Vibrant Health.


Free testing also will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Health Department parking lot, 619 Ann Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. People should bring an item such as a piece of mail or a work badge to show they live or work in Wyandotte County.


The pop-up tests and the Health Department tests now are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19.


More information about testing is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, or call 311.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/660945301491764

The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

The Unified Government COVID-19 hub outbreak map at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/.

To see an NEA list of schools that have had COVID-19 cases, visit https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=aa3f2ede7cb2415db943fdaf45866d2f.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Unified Government Health Department is collecting input on people’s experiences getting tested for COVID-19 in Wyandotte County. The survey is on the UG website at https://us.openforms.com/Form/ea97a450-3d74-4d86-8d1f-6e340d55cf7c.

The UG Health Department new school and sports guidance is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/09042020fallsportsrecommendations.pdf.

A previous UG sports order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/08132020localhealthofficerorderregardingsports.pdf.

The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Thousands of KCK students to receive internet connectivity at home

More than 6,000 Kansas City, Kansas, students will be able to connect to school through the internet at home with a program approved Tuesday night during a Zoom meeting.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education approved a program that will provide connection for students who currently are having problems getting online for their lessons. The district is holding remote classes this semester. The internet connection will be paid for with CARES Act funding, according to district officials.

Spectrum will be the provider for this broadband project. Rashid Hoda of the school district said they have identified about 6,600 of the students who do not have broadband internet connections at home.

Students and the district will not have to pay for the program, which has an estimated cost of just under $600,000, but with the additional cost of technicians to help install it, would be about $800,000, according to Spectrum officials. The program will go through Dec. 30, which is the end date that this group of federal CARES Act funds can be spent.

Dr. Val Winn, a board member, said she hoped that the program could be extended past Dec. 30 if possible, with grant funding either from additional federal allocations or from donors. After the program expires, it would cost $29.99 a month per household, according to company officials.

The board heard a letter from a staff member at Emerson Elementary School about technology and connection issues the students were facing at the start of school. One of the biggest problems is some of the wi-fi hotspots the district had provided for students had very little capacity and connectivity, according to the letter. Other problems included the lack of technical support and computer skills, the letter stated.

The Spectrum connections are not expected to take place until mid-October, according to company officials.

Until then, the board approved another plan that will let district students with known internet connectivity problems make appointments to come into nearby schools and connect to the internet in multipurpose rooms where socially distanced tables have been set up for them. It is only for those students who already have connectivity problems, according to Dr. Alicia Miguel, interim superintendent.

These would not be classroom sessions, according to Dr. Miguel, and teachers would not be there. She said the students could be there around two hours, enough time to watch any assigned videos and to download assignments that they can work on at home.

These will be by appointment only, approved by the principal, and a parent or adult will have to accompany each student, according to school officials. Everyone will wear masks, and temperatures will be taken at the building entrance.

“We thought this would be a small step to remove one of the challenges,” Dr. Miguel said.

This was approved, with board member Yolanda Clark voting no, saying she had some more questions before she could completely support it.

The board also approved the Y Academy Partnership proposal, that would let the YMCA provide a remote learning place for some students.

The proposal is to use Bethel Elementary School, which has been replaced this year by the Brune Elementary School, as a site for a Y supervised program where students could receive child care under supervision, with access to technology for their lessons.

After questions from board member Wanda Brownlee Paige, Dr. Miguel agreed that the first slots in the child care program should go to children of essential workers in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools.

There are 80 slots proposed in the program, according to Y officials. They said there could be a possibility of more added later, or other locations added.

YMCA officials explained they are doing similar programs in school districts around the area. The YMCA would subcontract to 15 to 20 employees, with five to 10 district employees included, who would work with the Y in the program, according to Y officials.

Dr. Winn voted no on the proposal because she felt the project was not specific enough, and other things had been included in it that weren’t part of the original proposal. She had questioned a YMCA statement about including day care for the children of other essential workers here, not just the KCK school district’s employees.

$825,000 available for UG grant to support small businesses

As part of the Unified Government’s (UG) CARES Act request, the UG Commission recently approved $825,000 to support the Economic Development Department’s WYCO Loves Local Small Business grants.

The WYCO Loves Local initiative was created to encourage continued growth and provide support for small businesses in Wyandotte County. The $825,000 approved by the Board of County Commissioners will provide much-needed support to local businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Local businesses are the backbone of our community and remain critical to on-going economic recovery and future growth efforts in Wyandotte County,” stated Mayor David Alvey. “As such, today I’m pleased to announce the WYCO Loves Local Business initiative will provide $825,000 in grants to businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19. This initiative provides much-needed relief directly to local businesses, helping them offset unforeseen costs or losses resulting from COVID-19, while also encouraging them to reinvest for the future as our community continues to recover from the pandemic. Moreover, by helping local businesses succeed and grow, we simultaneously maintain and create jobs for our local workforce.”

Businesses with 1-25 employees are eligible for up to $10,000 in grant support, and businesses with 26-500 employees are eligible for up to $20,000 in grant support.

Grants may be used to address the following challenges in response to the impact of COVID-19:
• Rent or mortgage payments (excluding property tax payments)
• Accounts payable, including utilities, vendors, suppliers, and working capital expense paid, or to be paid, between March 1 and December 1, 2020
• Facility Remediation/Cleanup Costs
• Innovation to promote outdoor business to protect employee and public health
• Cost associated with additional training or virtual learning in response to COVID-19
• Increasing technology capacity to enable alternative/remote work
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Costs

Because these grants are provided by the UG’s CARES Act funding, grantees will be subject to the rules and regulations set forth by the United States Treasury Department and the State of Kansas concerning CARES Act allocations. The UG’s CARES Act Planning Team will work with grantees to ensure compliance.

“This a unique opportunity for our businesses to receive direct monetary assistance to help them through these unprecedented challenges and keep our businesses strong. We hope that businesses will take advantage of these grants while defining their path forward,” said Katherine Carttar, the UG’s Director of Economic Development.

Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. The first review of applications will be Thursday, Sept. 24. Following Sept. 24, applications will be reviewed on a continual basis as funding permits.

To apply for a grant, visit the WYCO Loves Local Small Business Grant Application page.

Businesses with questions about the application should contact the CARES Act Planning Team by email at [email protected].

To learn more about the CARES Act in Wyandotte County, visit www.wycokck.org/CARES.

  • Story from Unified Government