Temperatures will be in the 60s on Friday and Saturday. (National Weather Service graphic)Sunday’s highs will drop to the 50s. (National Weather Service graphic)Temperature timelines on Halloween. (National Weather Service graphic)
Temperatures will warm up to a high near 62 today, according to the National Weather Service.
Dry and warmer temperatures will continue through Saturday, with the weather turning colder on Saturday night, the weather service said.
Another warmup will begin on Monday, according to the weather service.
Today, it will be sunny with a high near 62 and a south southwest wind of 6 to 8 mph, the weather service said.
Tonight, it will be clear, with a low of 43 and a south wind of 5 to 8 mph, according to the weather service.
Saturday, it will be sunny, with a high near 63 and a south wind of 9 to 18 mph, gusting as high as 31 mph, the weather service said.
Saturday night, Halloween, it will be clear, with a low of 37 and a northwest wind of 7 to 10 mph, according to the weather service.
Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 50 and a north northwest wind of 8 to 11 mph, gusting as high as 20 mph, the weather service said.
Sunday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 31, according to the weather service.
Monday, it will be sunny, with a high near 59, the weather service said.
Monday night, it will be mostly clear, wth a low of 40, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, Election Day, it will be sunny, with a high near 66, the weather service said.
Tuesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 48, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 66, the weather service said.
Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 50, according to the weather service.
Thursday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 68, the weather service said.
COVID-19 case rates in Wyandotte County are still higher, per 100,000, than surrounding areas. (UG Health Department chart)Wyandotte County reported an additional 73 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, Oct. 29, for a cumulative total of 8,240, according to the UG COVID-19 webpage. There were no additional deaths, for a cumulative total of 165. (From UG COVID-19 webpage)
Some of Wyandotte County’s classrooms will be able to hold more students because of a change in the way that classroom capacity is determined.
At a report by the Unified Government Health Department to the UG Commission at Thursday night’s meeting, Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer for Wyandotte County, said after discussions with local school officials, the Health Department will be changing the requirement for 50 percent of typical classroom capacity.
The capacity would be determined at 36 square feet per student in the future, he said. It would allow some larger classroom spaces to have more than 50 percent capacity, while still using social distancing, according to the Health Department. It would be an amendment to an existing health order, not a new order.
Dr. Greiner also said there will be winter sports guidance coming out in the next few days for school sports and activities. It will recommend against winter sports and activities. It will be a recommendation and not an order, he said. The school boards will decide whether to follow the Health Department’s guidance, he said.
He said it is likely to be similar to the recent Johnson County Health Department guidance that strongly recommended against winter sports and high-risk activities. Dr. Greiner said they would not want to have the ban on fall sports that was issued earlier, if it doesn’t fit well and would not be consistent with the new recommendations.
In addition, Dr. Greiner said COVID-19 saliva testing for the schools is now ready to go and available, and will be shipped as early as Monday to test students with symptoms.
Dr. Greiner said there will be no additional health orders issued currently.
He said COVID-19 fatigue seems to be setting in locally and national, and everyone is tired and wants it to get better. At the same time, “now is not the time to take our foot off the gas” in the COVID-19 response, he said.
He discouraged people from thinking that if enough people get COVID-19, they will all develop immunity. They are too far from where they need to be for that to work, he said.
A vaccine may be able to control the virus, and he hopes one is available soon, although it will probably be some time before it is here. The science is in favor of working toward behavior change, new therapies and finding a safe and effective vaccine, he said.
They have seen other countries get their increase in COVID-19 cases under control and they need the help of the community now as much as ever, he said.
According to the Health Department report, the mask-wearing and social distancing have been working in Wyandotte County.
The Health Department reported that from March to July, Wyandotte County made up 16 percent of all COVID-19 cases in Kansas and 25 percnet of all Kansas Covid-19 deaths.
That changed from August to October, when Wyandotte County had seven percent of all Kansas COVID-19 cases, and 10 percent of COVID-19 deaths, according to the Health Department.
Also, following a slight delay after the mask order being put in place, the case numbers began to drop, according to the Health Department.
According to the Health Department, the slight delay was due to a 14-day incubation period, where some people may have been exposed to the virus before the mask mandate went into effect.
According to the Health Department, cohorting students at school into the same small groups has limited the spread of COVID-19 among students in classrooms.
Also, the Wyandotte County contact tracing team now has worked through a backlog of cases after a spike and now has enough capacity to manage the caseload.
Also, testing capacity meets the current demand and can accommodate an increase, according to the Health Department.
The UG Health Department reported 79 COVID-19 student cases, 17 staff cases and nine sports-activities cases in Wyandotte County. (UG Health Department chart)
Dr. Greiner reported the COVID-19 case numbers at local schools that returned to hybrid and in-person education: The Piper school district had 18 student cases, four staff cases, and two sports team-activity cases; the Bonner Springs school district had seven student cases, two staff cases and two sports cases; the Turner school district had 59 student cases, 11 staff cases and four sports – activities cases; and the Archdiocese schools had five student cases, two staff cases and one sports case. The totals for the county were 79 student cases, 17 staff cases and nine sports cases, he said.
“When we have those cases, we have to quarantine other students,” he said. In one elementary school in Turner, that resulted in the school closing down temporarily because of the number of cases, he said. The school later reopened.
Dr. Greiner said he believed most of the school cases were contracted in the community, not in the schools.
Overall in the county, the school cohorting was working well, according to the Health Department.
Health Department staff also discussed hospital capacity in the Greater Kansas City area, and said they were concerned about it. Within the past few weeks, there may have been an overestimation of intensive care unit beds and ventilators in the community, according to the Health Department. Some hospitals were counting ICU beds for the neonatal patients and pediatric patients in the totals, according to the Health Department.
Because of higher numbers of COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System, there have been issues with difficulty transferring patients into the hospital, and there were some patients that had to be transferred to different community hospitals, according to the Health Department. Rural Kansas had this issue as well.
The Health Department staff stated they were working to make the reporting on bed and ventilator capacity more accurate so they can plan for the future.
The county’s current seven-day average positivity rate is about 18 percent, according to health officials. In the last three or four weeks, the Health Department has started testing both symptomatic and asymptomatic persons. They have not seen a very big decrease in the positivity rate.
Indications are that there has been a tremendous amount of community spread within Wyandotte County, according to Dr. Erin Corriveau, Health Department deputy director.
According to Health Department officials, in the past few months they have seen a lot of cases associated with more than 100 gatherings such as weddings, funerals, birthday parties and showers. There have been quite a few outbreaks traced to gatherings of families and friends.
To successfully fight COVID-19, residents will need to limit social gatherings and holiday gatherings, according to the UG Health Department. (From UG Health Department)
The next few months will be a challenge for the community, as holidays and social gatherings, and spending more time indoors, result in a higher likelihood of transmission, according to Health Department staff.
People will need to limit the social gatherings as much as they can, according to the Health Department. This year it is not a good idea to bring the older generations together with the younger members of the family at the holidays, according to the Health Department.
Mayor David Alvey noted at the meeting that some places in Europe are now closing down again because of increased rates of spread of the coronavirus.
“Our goal is to accommodate as much activity as possible and yet protect people,” he said, adding it was difficult to balance.
Mitigation measures, including wearing a mask, staying away from large gatherings and keeping at least six feet away, work, he said.
Commissioner Tom Burroughs said it was important to keep the communication lines open with everyone in the community. He mentioned that superintendents had stepped up to the challenge of trying to provide the best environment for students, staff and the community.
Also, he noted that there is a rise in COVID-19 cases in Kansas, and that Illinois on Wednesday shut down bars because of the rise in cases. COVID-19 cases have been rising in the nation and also internationally.
He said they would make the decisions whether the decision are popular or not, as they have been charged with making decisions for the betterment of the community.
Wyandotte County reported an additional 73 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, Oct. 29, for a cumulative total of 8,240, according to the UG COVID-19 webpage. There were no additional deaths, for a cumulative total of 165.
The University of Kansas Health System reported the highest number of COVID-19 inpatients on Thursday morning, with 40 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, an increase from 36 on Wednesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. There were 18 patients in the intensive care unit, an increase from 16 on Wednesday. An overflow ICU had to be opened to handle the number of COVID-19 patients. Six patients were on ventilators, an increase from four on Wednesday. There were 31 other COVID-19 patients who were in the recovery phase, but still in the hospital, a decrease from 35 on Wednesday. HaysMed in Hays, Kansas, reported 21 COVID-19 inpatients on Thursday, an increase from 18 on Wednesday, and two of the patients were in the recovery phase.
The Unified Government Health Department has moved its COVID-19 testing from the 6th and Ann location to the former Kmart at 78th and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. The hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tests are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County.
The tests now are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule because of the weather or for other reasons. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.
