Month: January 2021

Kansas really in top tier of states for vaccine distribution, health secretary says

Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas health secretary, said Tuesday morning that, contrary to reports, Kansas is really in the top tier for vaccine distribution.

Earlier reports had placed Kansas closer to the bottom, but those reports didn’t account for the difficulties that providers were having in entering information into programs, according to Dr. Norman.

“We were never 50th out of 50,” he said. “We pushed out vaccine as soon as we got it, and it went into arms almost as soon as they got it at 278 sites.”

The problem was that some health care workers did not know how to use the software to report vaccine distribution, or they just didn’t complete it.

Dr. Norman said 179,000 doses have gone out in Kansas. The state is now in the top tier and as more vaccine comes in, it could be higher.

Dr. Norman made his remarks at the University of Kansas Health System media update Tuesday morning.

He said he expects the second phase to be ready by the end of January. That phase could last two months. It would include those who are 65 and older.

Dr. Norman also said that Kansas is not holding back doses for second shots because vaccine is arriving each day.

Dr. Norman referred residents to the website, kansasvaccine.gov, which has information about the vaccine. That website reported more than 84,000 doses had been administered by Jan. 11 in Kansas.

The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker also shows how many people in each state are getting the vaccine, at https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days, he said.

Dr. Norman urged people to get the vaccine, and to ask a trusted person for advice on getting the vaccine.

Also at the Tuesday news conference, Dr. Mario Castro, pulmonologist, said there is a new trial with two monoclonal antibody therapies.

The clinical trial will give the antibodies to people in the early stages of COVID-19, while they are outpatients.

They have space in the trials for those older than 65, and those under 60 who were smokers or who had obesity, high blood pressure, active cancer, chronic lung disease, kidney or liver disease.

Dr. Castro said people can enroll as soon as they get a positive COVID-19 test result. Those interested in enrolling or receiving more information may call Luigi Boccardi, study coordinator, at 913-588-4022.

COVID-19 case numbers

There were 64 active COVID-19 patients in the hospital Tuesday, a decrease of two since Monday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. There were 23 patients in the ICU, no change from Monday, and 13 on ventilators Tuesday morning, a decrease of one since Monday. In addition, 51 other patients were still in the hospital but out of the acute phase, a decrease of five since Monday. There was a total of 115 COVID-19 patients at KU Health System, a decrease of seven since Monday.

Wyandotte County reported an increase of 108 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Jan. 12, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative 15,723 cases. There was one additional death reported Tuesday, for a cumulative total of 209.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 135,526 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. There were 1,642 deaths, and 155 was the daily average of new hospitalizations.

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday reported 22,846,796 total cumulative cases in the United States, with 380,796 total deaths nationwide.

Free COVID-19 testing available Wednesday

The Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 test site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State will be open on Wednesday, Jan. 13, with testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tests are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County. The tests are nasopharyngeal swab tests. The Health Department no longer uses saliva 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
that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.


COVID-19 tests will be available from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Pierson Community Center parking lot, 1800 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. Hours are subject to change depending on the weather and other factors. These tests are through WellHealth Management. For more information and to schedule a test, visit www.GoGetTested.com/Kansas.


Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.


For more information about the testing site at the former Kmart location, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/10092020_newtestingsitewyco.pdf.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=250792356401798&ref=watch_permalink.

The school health order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/localhealthofficerschoolorder01042021.pdf.

A letter explaining the school health order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/schoolletter_01052021_english.pdf.

To see information about the UG giving vaccines to health care workers, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/ug-to-start-giving-covid-19-vaccines-to-health-department-and-ems-personnel-next-week/.

Wyandotte County residents who are interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine may sign up at https://us.openforms.com/Form/2f2bcc68-3b6a-450b-9007-d39819db6572.

The KDHE vaccine report is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1708/COVID-19-Vaccine-Updates–123020-FINAL-PDF?bidId=.

Cards and letters of encouragement for caregivers at KU Health System may be sent to Share Joy, care of Patient Relations, 4000 Cambridge St., Mailstop 1021, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160. Emails can be sent to [email protected].

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask and social distancing order. Also, the Wyandotte County health order with a limit of 10 persons to a gathering, and a closing time of 10 p.m. for restaurants and bars, with other new restrictions, is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/11162020localhealthorderexecuted.pdf.

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

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

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

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

KCK school board gives OK to wrestling

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education on Tuesday night approved a proposal to let wrestling restart.

The proposal presented by Tammie Romstad, the district’s director of athletics, will allow wrestling practices and competitions to start on Wednesday, Jan. 13.

Voting to allow wrestling to start again were Yolanda Clark, Maxine Drew, Randy Lopez and Stacy Yeager. Voting no on starting wrestling were Janey Humphries, Wanda Brownlee Paige and Valdenia Winn.

“I do not feel comfortable having children wrestling,” Humphries said. “That is too close a contact for me. We want people to wear masks and stay six feet apart.”

Her grandson is a wrestler and she knows how important it is to students, but the safety of the children was more important to her than the wrestling, she said.

Board member Wanda Brownlee Paige also was wrestling with the issue, and noted that only last Friday, a doctor from the Health Department told them that non-contact sports were better than contact sports.

In the proposal, Romstad said the district’s senior leadership team recommended starting wrestling.

Romstad said there had been no positive cases or wrestling sports clusters reported to the state health department from Nov. 16 to Dec. 22, after the state wrestling practices and competitions began.

Also, everybody’s doing it – wrestling has started in all the surrounding schools in Wyandotte County and Johnson County, according to Romstad.

She said that the UG’s sports secondary recommendations would be followed, and those include cohorting participating students, screening, tracing and taking temperatures, no spectators at competitions, limiting participant size to 45 or less and all participants and officials wearing masks.

According to Romstad, about 164 kids were out for sports currently, not counting wrestling numbers. About 85 percent of the students in practices have turned in forms that the district requires, she said.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s cluster web page on Jan. 12 didn’t break sports into individual categories. It listed only 54 sports clusters statewide, with 439 COVID-19 cases statewide, one hospitalization and one death. (See https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas)

The UG Health Department reported last week that there were not a lot of outbreaks at the schools, and that it tracked two outbreaks related to soccer teams and one related to a softball team last semester.

Earlier in the Jan. 12 meeting, there was some lobbying from those who wanted to restart wrestling. Eight comments that supported wrestling were received from the public.

Angel Gallardo wrote to the board: “Good evening, my name is Angel Gallardo. I am a senior at J.C. Harmon High School. And I would love to have a wrestling season because wrestling is the only thing that keeps me out of trouble it, helps me relive my stress, and it’s my last year I can wrestle and I really want to show that what I can do my last year I’ve been to state two years and I want to place at state my last year or even win it i want to show other schools at Our district has talent. I truly love the sport of wrestling and I just hope you guys will let us have a season I really did it please let us have a season I’m begging you guys I just want to make our district and my family proud.”

Trinity Escobar wrote this communication to the board: “I really really need this wrestling season, and I know I’m just a student. However though I believe it’s important to state my opinion as it directly affects me. Wrestling gives me reason to wake up, and reason to be motivated. I greatly value Wrestling beyond the sport itself.”

Wrestling was just one of several items approved at the five-hour school board meeting, conducted remotely on Zoom.

The school board also approved a request to loosen the district eligibility policy, which Romstad said would be for about two weeks. Romstad said the eligibility policy was a real concern with the remote learning environment.

Paige said if students were behind in their classwork, they didn’t need to practice, but they should focus on getting caught up with their school work.

Voting in favor were Clark, Drew, Humphries, Lopez and Yeager, and voting against it were Paige and Winn.

Some students to go back to school early

In other action, the school board approved a district proposal 6-1 to allow certain groups of students to come back to school in person starting the week of Feb. 22. Paige voted no, saying more plans need to be put in writing and more questions answered before they do anything.

Students would attend four days a week. An estimated maximum of 1,800 students would attend, according to Dr. Alicia Miguel, superintendent.

According to district officials, it is an effort to address the situation of students who have fallen behind during the remote learning period. There is a national trend of student academic decline during the pandemic, according to officials. District officials said about 300 elementary students, kindergarten through fifth grade, have had no internet connectivity at all during these months.

The students who could return would include students in kindergarten through fifth grade who were unable to connect to remote learning; those students who haven’t been showing up from the start of the school year through Dec. 18; and those students who were at high risk of not progressing, according to officials.

Also in the group are English as a Second Language students in kindergarten through fifth grade, including those less than one year in the country.

Other groups that may return early are students in kindergarten through fifth grade with high individualized education plan minutes, including those who spend a lot of their day in special education; those elementary students in foster care; elementary students who face homelessness; and high school seniors who could be at risk of not graduating on time.

Selected staff members would have to return Feb. 8 for this group.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools are in remote learning currently, with plans for all students to start hybrid learning in April; and a remote learning option was to be available then, also.

The Unified Government Health Department last week loosened the restrictions on schools in Wyandotte County, allowing older students to change classrooms and younger students to sit in pods. An entire classroom will not have to be quarantined – only those directly in front, back and at the sides of a positive student.

At the Jan. 8 meeting with the KCK school board, Dr. Erin Corriveau, deputy medical officer for Wyandotte County, did not recommend wrestling, as it is a sport where athletes come into close contact for a length of time. She recommended other sports such as tennis or track and field, where there is no close contact over an extended period of time.

After some school districts in Wyandotte County went ahead and played team sports or the students played club sports, the Health Department loosened its sports requirements on Nov. 13 and made the requirements into recommendations. (See https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/11132020-localhealthofficersportsorderrescinded.pdf.) That earlier Aug. 13 order had prohibited some contact sports in Wyandotte County.

Mask orders, gathering limitations and social distancing are still in effect in Wyandotte County. Violations of the health orders are misdemeanors and can result in a fine of up to $500 and 30 days in jail. That penalty provision is still in place in the orders, and was mentioned in the new Jan. 4 health order relaxing the requirements on schools. (See https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/localhealthofficerschoolorder01042021.pdf)

Bars’ closing times extended until midnight

Bars and taverns in Wyandotte County will get to stay open until midnight, starting Wednesday, according to a new health order from the Unified Government Health Department.

Earlier, bars and restaurants were ordered to close at 10 p.m., starting Nov. 20, to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Bar and restaurant owners recently appeared before the Unified Government committee and also appeared during a meeting with UG officials through the Kansas City, Kansas, Chamber of Commerce and other business and community organizations.

The bar and restaurant owners here said that they were losing business to Johnson County and Leavenworth County, because bars and restaurants there could stay open until midnight or later. Some owners said they would have to curtail hours more or close down on some days because of the loss of revenue.

The Core4 group of metro area counties tried to agree upon 10 p.m. as a closing time in November, but Johnson County opted out of it and let their bars stay open until midnight.

The new order, issued by Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer, will allow bars and restaurants to serve the public until midnight and to stay open until 12:30 a.m., starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13.

According to a UG spokesman, Mayor David Alvey played an important role in facilitating the meeting with business representatives.

“We had a very productive meeting late last week and I appreciate the time and valuable input we received from business owners, Chamber representatives and public health officials who participated,” Mayor Alvey said. “Our goal is to find ways to help Wyandotte County businesses operate and succeed during these challenging times, while doing our utmost to contain the spread of COVID-19 in our community.”

“Wyandotte County business owners have gone to great lengths to comply with and follow health protocols since the beginning of the pandemic – and I’m pleased they’ll be able to expand their service hours in a safe and controlled manner. As such, we are relying on bar and restaurant owners and managers to work diligently to enforce measures that will mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19 in their establishments,” Alvey said in the news release. “To the extent employees and patrons continue to mask up, maintain social distancing, disinfect, and limit gatherings, the relaxation of these orders can be accommodated – encouraging business activity and protecting public health. Each of us must strive to neither get, nor give the coronavirus.”

After the Health Department issued its order Nov. 20 restricting hours, Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri enacted similar measures based on public health officials’ recommendations. The differences in hours in other areas in the region created more inconsistencies, according to the UG. The new order is more consistent with bar and restaurant protocols currently in place in most neighboring counties, according to the UG.

Some of the provisions of the new health order:

• Restaurants, bars and taverns must still restrict customer capacity to no more than 50 percent of building capacity
• Businesses must close their doors by 12:30 a.m. and remain closed until at least 6 a.m. each day. Restaurants can operate between 12:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. for drive through or delivery services only.
• Patrons must remain seated to the greatest extent possible, and all patrons must be masked except when actively eating or drinking.
• Parties of guests (whether indoors or outdoors) are limited to no more than eight people.
• Guest parties must be socially distanced at least six feet apart.

The Health Department also recently modified a local health order for schools, allowing added flexibility in an effort to keep more students in the classroom, according to the UG spokesman. Based upon data now available, public health officials saw a way to work with school leaders to restore some normal activities that had previously been restricted, according to the UG. The Health Department plans to continue reviews and evaluations.

The new bar and restaurant health order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/localhealthofficerorder011221.pdf.