A light wintry mix is possible tonight and Thursday morning. (National Weather Service graphic)
Light precipitation could begin Wednesday night, likely in the form of rain, and then change later into light freezing rain or light snow, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Around midnight, the temperatures will drop below freezing along the I-70 corridor, causing precipitation to change to freezing rain or snow, the weather service said.
Light glazing of ice and minor slushy snow accumulation are possible, according to the weather service. The precipitation will end by Thursday afternoon.
Look for rain to begin around 5 p.m. Wednesday, then snow is possible starting around 1 a.m. Thursday, according to the forecast.
There is a possibility of an hour or two of light freezing rain on Thursday morning when surface temperatures are below freezing, the weather service said.
Residents are cautioned that the wintry mix appears to be along the I-70 corridor and during the morning rush hour, and some slick spots could develop on roadways and paved surfaces.
No rain or snow is showing in the forecast for the time of the Sporting KC semifinal playoff match on Thursday night in Kansas City, Kansas.
Today, there is a 20 percent chance of rain after 5 p.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 50 with a northeast wind of 3 to 8 mph.
Tonight, there is a 30 percent chance of rain before 1 a.m., then a chance of rain and snow between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., then a chance of snow after 3 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 30 with a northeast wind of 3 to 6 mph. Less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation is expected.
Thursday, there is a 20 percent chance of snow before 11 a.m., then a slight chance of rain between 11 a.m. and noon, the weather service said. The high will be near 38 with a north wind of 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon.
Thursday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 27 and a light west southwest wind, according to the weather service.
Friday, it will be sunny with a high near 47 and a west northwest wind of 3 to 6 mph, the weather service said.
Friday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 28, according to the weather service.
Saturday, it will be sunny, with a high near 48, the weather service said.
Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 28, according to the weather service.
Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 45, the weather service said.
Sunday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 26, according to the weather service.
Monday, it will be sunny, with a high near 45, the weather service said.
Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 29, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, it will be sunny, with a high near 52, the weather service said.
The first coronavirus vaccines will go to health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, following a vote on Tuesday by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
About 21 million health care workers and 3 million residents and staff at nursing homes and long-term care facilities will receive the first doses of the vaccine.
Dr. Kevin Ault, an obstetrician at the University of Kansas Health System who is on the federal committee, said the committee had to make decisions about who would get the doses first.
The challenging part of Tuesday’s vote was that complete data isn’t in yet from the Phase 3 trials, and the committee would like to know what the safety and efficacy of the vaccine is in the long-term care population, he said. Data is expected to become available next week for the first vaccine, he added.
Dr. Ault, who was not speaking on behalf of the CDC, has served on the federal committee for more than 10 years and also participated in planning for the H1N1 vaccination.
The reason long-term care facilities came to the front of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution was because of the tremendous mortality in that group, with about 100,000 deaths in the United States, he said.
The local facilities will decide which health care workers get the vaccines first at their institutions, he said. Those who work in the intensive care units may be among the first health care workers to be vaccinated at some hospitals.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, said the health care workers at KU Health System who would be vaccinated first would include those who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients, then physicians, nursing, dietary, and housecleaning workers who are around COVID-19 patients. After that, the rest of the health care workers would be vaccinated.
He said vaccinating nursing home residents and staff is a critical piece that will help hospitals because they are often a source of patients that come directly to the intensive care unit.
Dr. Ault said today’s vote was “interim guidance.” Between now and the winter holidays there may be quite a bit of additional voting and more news about the two vaccines that have applied for emergency use authorization, he said.
It’s possible that after about a week after the FDA approves the vaccine, it could be shipped, Dr. Ault said. There is a challenging handling process with some of the vaccines because of the temperatures, he added. There are many facilities in Kansas and Missouri that can handle the low freezer temperatures necessary, according to Dr. Stites.
Another challenge is there are about 20 million people in the health care workers group, and 3 million in the nursing home group, and everyone will need two doses, Dr. Ault said. Probably for the first few weeks, and possibly months, of the rollout, all the vaccines will be going to these two groups, he said.
The state health agency will be in charge of distribution in each state, and there is also a plan in each state that specifies who will be the first recipients.
Dr. Stites said that once the vaccines are shipped to a local institution, such as a hospital, the hospital will make decisions about how it may be distributed among the health care workers, and the distribution may be a little different at each hospital.
Dr. Stites said the big question may be how many doses each state will get, and they don’t know that yet.
Those health workers who get the early vaccine may be able to use a cell phone program to report any side effects, according to Dr. Ault.
Case numbers increase
KU Health System reported 101 active COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on Tuesday morning, with 53 patients in the intensive care unit and 24 on ventilators, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. On Monday, there were 102 active patients, 46 in the ICU and 30 on ventilators. There were an additional 58 patients still hospitalized because of COVID-19, but who are in the recovery phase, an increase from 50 on Monday. The total on Tuesday was 159, up from 152 on Monday.
At HaysMed in Hays, Kansas, there were 32 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, a decrease from 35 on Monday. Twenty-four were active COVID-19 patients and eight were in the recovery phase.
Wyandotte County reported an additional 60 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, for a cumulative total of 11,021, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were an additional two deaths reported, for a cumulative total of 180.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s Kansas City Region COVID-19 Resource Hub reported 1,005 additional COVID-19 cases on Tuesday in the nine-county area, for a cumulative total of 91,645. There were a cumulative 1,106 deaths reported. The average daily new hospitalization rate was 167 in the nine-county area, an increase from Monday. There was an average of 757 COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized in the nine-county area, according to the resource hub.
The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard reported a total of 13,715,635 COVID-19 cases in the United States on Tuesday.
Free COVID-19 testing available Wednesday
Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Faith Deliverance Family Worship Center, 3043 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The pop-up test is through Vibrant Health and the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force.
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 are now saliva COVID-19 tests.
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. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.
As COVID-19 rates continue to rise in Wyandotte County, the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education on Tuesday night voted unanimously to postpone the return of students for in-person learning until the end of the third quarter.
Students would return April 5, with instructional staff returning March 22, under the new plan. The school district currently is in all-remote learning.
Earlier the board had planned to return to hybrid learning in January.
However, the board heard tonight that the positivity rate for the county had reached 32 percent, and the gating criteria goal is for the district to be at 15 percent or less.
During the meeting, the board heard reports about more staff absences recently, as the COVID-19 rates are increasing in the community. There were concerns about being able to staff adequately.
According to one report, there were nine open positions for school district nurses. Each school is supposed to have a nurse. District officials said they have been using agencies to fill some of these positions.
It also heard a report that 107 teachers have requested to work at home in the next semester. Some other teachers requested to work part of the time in the classroom and part of the time at home. Others said they could work in hybrid classes if the district could help with child care.
Parents have been asked to choose whether their children will attend remote or hybrid classes for the spring semester. According to district officials, 16,459 responses have been received, with 8,932 choosing the hybrid option and 7,527 choosing remote learning. The district was still waiting to hear from more than 4,000 parents.
Nutritional staff, which is in charge of distributing meals at the various schools, also were experiencing shortages, with difficulty staffing the sites, according to district officials.
The board voted to approve a staff recommendation to reduce the number of current “grab-and-go” meal sites in order to be able to continue them. For example, students who live near Silver City Elementary School would have to go to the nearby Harmon High School to pick up their lunches.
Any students who have trouble finding transportation to a different meal site could call the school’s principal or counseling staff to see if meal delivery could be arranged, according to district officials.
Some students, such as those in special education and language proficiency classes, will still be returning to school in hybrid classes in January, according to officials.
The options that the school board considered in its decision on the return of students to in-person learning:
Option A: Approve postponing the January return of students for in-person learning until the end of the third quarter. Students return April 5. Instructional staff return March 22.
Option B: Approve postponing the January return of instructional staff and students for in-person learning until COVID-19 positivity rates decrease (under 15 percent). Two-week notification to get instructional staff back into the buildings to allow for classroom-building transition. Another two weeks to allow for phasing students back into buildings.
Option C: Continue with the decision to return in January.
The board voted to approve Option A.
In making the motion for Option A, board vice president Wanda Brownlee Paige cited the absences of the classified staff and having enough people to clean and serve meals. “I’m not saying I don’t care about the kids. I do. I’d like to see them be alive,” she said.
One school board member, Dr. Valdenia Winn, requested more information about the students’ test scores and academic progress; however, that information was not available on Tuesday night. Paige said she thought it was better to make the decision tonight to give parents and staff more time to plan.
Board member Yolanda Clark pointed out that students this year have had to give up much. What incentives can they offer the students to keep them learning, she asked.
Paige said that this year, they are trying to teach students how to survive.
More information about the new plan for return to school, and also the plan for reducing school meal distribution sites for “grab-and-go” meals, will be posted on the district’s website on Wednesday.
