Month: June 2021

Seeing more of a return to normal with vaccinations

While the pandemic has been devastating to people and changed their lives, Rep. Sharice Davids said Tuesday that she is starting to see a return to normal with vaccinations.

People are starting to be able to hug their families again, she said at the Tuesday morning news conference at the University of Kansas Health System.

“Things are starting to feel a little more like normal…the sun’s coming through the clouds here,” Rep. Davids, D-3rd Dist., said.

Federal update

When asked what she was most proud of, she said it was the COVID-19 relief bills from the federal government for businesses and individuals.

She does not think that the data shows unemployment benefits are keeping people at home and away from work, and said the assistance has been a lifeline for many people.

Rep. Davids has been working to keep telehealth alive, as it has been vital to those in smaller communities during the pandemic. It won’t be possible unless people can access it from home, and since broadband internet access is critical, she is also working to expand it.


She also said she felt that getting vaccinated was setting a good example, and she urged everyone to get vaccinated.

State update

With the Kansas emergency declaration expiring on June 15, Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of health, said Tuesday morning that the effects of the expiration will be mostly unseen by the public. The Legislature allowed the state of emergency declaration to expire.

“It doesn’t mean the virus has magically gone away,” Dr. Norman said. Kansas is still recording about 100 new COVID-19 cases per day, with one to three deaths every day, he said.

“If we had one to three deaths per day from something else that was preventable, there would be rioting in the streets,” Dr. Norman said.

About 50 percent of Kansas residents are fully vaccinated, but the state probably won’t reach the president’s goal of 70 percent by July 4, he said.

Last weekend was the 500th day of the state’s emergency operations. When the state emergency order is lifted, contact tracing and vaccinations will still continue, he said. The state will lose its National Guard troops helping with the COVID-19 efforts, however, he said. Then they will probably use contract nurses to continue the work, he added. The state may have to use services like FedEx or UPS for transporting.

They are sorting out the situation and will present a plan to the governor, he added. The state will receive federal monies for vaccination and testing regardless of the state of emergency, he said.

While he was glad to see schools starting to ramp up vaccinations, he felt masks will still be necessary in classrooms. CDC guidance states that unvaccinated people should wear masks, and that would apply to the 420,000 Kansas children under 12 who have no approved vaccine yet, he said.

All of the virus variants, including the ones found in hot spots in rural Missouri, can also be found in Kansas, Dr. Norman said. Wastewater testing and air sampling allows the state to find out where the virus is currently.

Dr. Norman said the COVID-19 vaccines are not experimental. With more than a billion doses safely given, the vaccines are some of the most tested products in modern history, he said.

“The fact it doesn’t have full FDA approval, and they will, the fact that they don’t, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s experimental,” he said. “I think that conjures up something that’s maybe not intended, but I think it is used occasionally to dissuade people. But this is really not an experiment, it’s a very well-established vaccine.”

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said that vaccination is the way out of the pandemic.

He said the Race to End COVID-19 last weekend at the Kansas Speedway offered incentives to getting vaccinations, and it resulted in 166 vaccinations and 240 tests, Those who need a first or second dose of the vaccine may call the health system at 913-588-1227 or may visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine.

Spike model

Also at the media update Tuesday morning, Dr. Paul Camerata, a neurosurgeon at the KU Health System, showed a 3D model of a spike protein that was produced at the health system. It will be used to teach students about COVID-19 and spike proteins. The model looks different from the usual artist’s pictures of the coronavirus.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, explained where the model spike protein was attached to the viral surface, showed where it interacted with the ACE2 receptor, and showed the area where antibodies would work against the virus.

Free walk-in vaccinations available

The former Kmart store site at 7836 State Ave. will be open for free walk-in vaccinations for everyone 12 and older from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9.

The Health Department is holding mobile vaccination clinics at schools this month. A free mobile vaccination clinic will be at Sumner Academy, 1610 N. 8th St., from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 9. It is open to the public. Anyone over age 12 may be vaccinated. Walk-ins are welcome. Minors must be accompanied by parents or guardians. There also will be free food boxes, free COVID tests and free cleaning supplies available. For more information, see https://fb.me/e/bGmhW1vnN.

People may also schedule vaccinations at WycoVaccines.org. Residents may request rides to the vaccination clinic through a form on the same website.

The Unified Government Health Department vaccination hours changed recently. To see the schedule and more information about vaccinations, visit WycoVaccines.org or https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

Those who receive COVID-19 vaccinations are asked to consider bringing an ID to make the process go faster.

The Health Department is doing more mobile COVID-19 vaccinations, and people may request vaccines to be given at different sites in the community by going to WycoVaccines.org and clicking on “mobile vaccine request.” People also may request a ride to vaccination sites on the same page.

Those who wish to schedule an appointment may use the Health Department’s self-scheduling tool at WycoVaccines.org and click on a blue button that says, “Click here to schedule an appointment online.” The page is available in Spanish by clicking at the top of the page. Walk-in appointments also are welcome.

Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date.

To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schdule, visit WycoVaccines.org.

Other sites available for vaccinations

Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.

There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacies, which are now also accepting walk-in vaccinations or appointments, and are starting vaccinations for age 12 and up at those pharmacies that are giving Pfizer vaccine (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/).

CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/. Walgreens and Walmart also were listed on www.vaccines.gov as giving vaccinations.

Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations.

Case numbers reported

Dr. Hawkinson reported the COVID-19 case numbers at the University of Kansas Health System were slightly higher on Tuesday morning. Five active COVID-19 patients were being treated at the hospital, an increase of one from Monday. One patient was in the intensive care unit, no change from Monday. There have been no patients on ventilators since May 24. Six other patients were still in the hospital, but were out of the acute infection phase, no change from Monday. There were 11 total COVID-19 patients, an increase of one from Monday.

Wyandotte County reported an increase of 14 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, June 8, for a cumulative 18,892 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 299 deaths reported, no change from Monday.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 175,225 cumulative, COVID-19 cases on Tuesday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 37.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 315,099 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Monday, June 7, an increase of 244 cases since Friday, June 4. There were a total of 5,100 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of 16.

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday night reported 33,390,562 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 598,323 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 15,496 new cases nationwide and 324 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were North Carolina, 1,297; California, 1,196; Texas, 1,175; Washington, 832; and Louisiana, 796.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were India, 86,498; Brazil, 37,156; Argentina, 22,195; Colombia, 21,949; and U.S., 15,496, according to Johns Hopkins information.

Free testing available

Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 9, at the Vibrant Health Cordell D. Meeks Jr. Clinic, formerly Children’s Mercy West, 4313 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. This test is in conjunction with the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force.

Free COVID-19 testing will be offered from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 9, at the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. This is the Health Department’s central site.

Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.
For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.

The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

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. There are more test sites listed on this page.

Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/235722611692972

The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.

A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.

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.

The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.

School board approves plan to get more students involved in activities with new facility policy, following day of violence

In an emotional meeting following the fatal shooting of a teen earlier in the day, the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education on Tuesday evening approved opening the district’s facilities for limited student use and community rental.

Under the new policy proposed through the district’s “Enough Is Enough” effort, outside organizations will be able to request to rent the district’s facilities including gyms, fields, tracks and auditoriums. A new fee schedule was approved, with fees much less than those previously charged.

Board President Randy Lopez held a moment of silence during the meeting for a teen who died in a shooting earlier in the day. The teen, whose identity has not yet been released by authorities, was a school district student, he said. The teen was walking on a sidewalk near Hazel Grove Elementary School when he was shot by an unknown person in a vehicle.

Lopez made a plea for the community to come together as the district suffered its 26th student death.

“Let’s come together and find ways to love each other, to bring peace, to work together to end the violence,” Lopez said at the school board meeting. “We can’t have one more student death, especially the gun violence in our community. It hurts all of us when we lose one student, one person in our community.

“Please, let’s work together, we can’t keep doing this to our community,” he said. “We have to love each other and work to come together.

“Let’s find ways to work together, to love and end the violence,” Lopez said.

Lisa Garcia-Stewart, the district’s director of student services, said the facilities proposal was just one plan they can begin to work on in the coming months to provide more connectedness for youth.

“How heavy it is to think about another death of a student, and the family and the students and staff who are impacted in our community,” she said at the meeting.

The board had been scheduled to hear the information about the facilities on Tuesday night, and vote on it at a future meeting, according to a board member, but they decided to vote on it Tuesday night.

A rental fee will be charged to outside groups that do not provide free services to youth, under the new policy.

According to district officials, the plan would allow current coaches in the school district to hold camps or workouts for middle and high school students, with a district stipend provided to those who work with students at least six hours a week for four weeks.

Community organizations could apply to use the district’s facilities. They would pay a fee, provide proof of insurance and would have to follow all district rules, including COVID-19 guidelines, according to officials.

Exceptions to the fee would be if outside organizations holding an educational workshop or camp for district students are working with a school’s coach. In that case they wouldn’t be charged if the coach sponsors the activity.

About $172,000 was estimated as the maximum cost for this program, with coaches paid $500 for providing six hours a week for four weeks of coaching instruction, camp and workouts, according to Tammie Romstad, the district’s athletic director. The stipend program was not likely to use that much funding, according to officials.

Romstad said as many as 2,700 middle school and high school athletes could be part of this coaches’ program through the months of June and July. This did not include outside groups that might come in and present programs, she said.

Board member Wanda Brownlee Paige, who voted against the proposal, was in favor of opening school district facilities, such as gymnasiums, for free play by students. However, Dennis Covington, chief financial officer, said that would not be covered under the district’s insurance.

Coaches who hold programs at district facilities would be covered under the district’s insurance, he said.

Some of the kids who lost their lives were not athletes, Paige said, and may not have participated in these programs had they been offered. She was in favor of splitting the $172,000 and allowing open play for students. She also discussed other uses of the gyms, rooms and facilities, for example, a robotics club, STEM classes or a chess club could be considered.

“They want something to do,” Paige said. “I just want to see us open it up more for that kid.”

Paige also mentioned an incident on Saturday at Parkwood Pool, where teens jumped over a fence and went into a closed community swimming pool to swim. One teen nearly drowned.

The district could take a look at allowing some of the high school swimming pools to be used, she believes.

Garcia-Stewart said they want to expand offerings in the future, but this was just something they could do right now. They also will be partnering with some community organizations to offer some programs that might be similar to what Paige was describing. They will continue to come back and present other options to the board in the future, she said.

Romstad said some of the outside organizations that rent the gyms may not have very structured use of it, and could be similar to unstructured play, for their own groups.

Board member Maxine Drew said they’re laying the foundation, and after they get it started, more could be added later, such as swimming pools opening. Many rooms can be used, she said.

“There is a foundation of where we’re going to go so we can move up to a higher level to get our kids engaged during the summertime,” Drew said.

Dr. Alicia Miguel, interim superintendent, said this was the first step in reopening the district’s facilities. They will continue to meet with community members and reach out to different organizations, so they can come in, she said.

Paige said she thought the district itself should offer free play for students, and not depend on outside organizations to do it. She suggested a coach should let some students in the gym have free play while others are in a program at the same time.

Outside groups that want to rent space in the district’s facilities would apply to Covington, who would review the applications. They would have to have insurance, he said.

The board also approved fees for community organizations to rent facilities, including: $20 for a classroom; $25 for a computer lab; $35 for a gym; $20 for a cafeteria without kitchen services; $20 for training rooms; and $30 for a cafeteria with kitchen services. There are additional charges for security.

To rent a baseball field for 90 minutes would cost $15. There are additional charges for the type of field and lights, as well as security. A stadium could run $25 an hour for turf fields and $25 per hour for lights, plus additional for security.

The school district’s own programs, such as sports teams, would have priority in scheduling, according to district officials.

To view a video of this meeting, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UseRuODHOYw.

Teen suffers life-threatening injuries in shooting near 66th and Cleveland

Update: The teen who was shot has died from his injuries, according to police.

A teen suffered life-threatening injuries in a shooting about 11:55 a.m. Tuesday, June 8, in the 6600 block of Cleveland Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, according to police.

Officers responded after receiving a report of shots fired and found a male teen who had been shot on a sidewalk, said Nancy Chartrand, public information officer for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

The teen was taken to a hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries, the spokesman stated.

The suspect left in a vehicle and has not been apprehended, the spokesman stated. The suspect fled before police arrived.

The sidewalk where the shooting took place was adjacent to Hazel Grove Elementary School, which has a summer program in session, Chartrand stated. The students were all inside the building at the time of the shooting.

The building went into a lockdown, and students then were released to their families, she said.

The teen who was injured was not a student there, and the shooting was not on school property, Chartrand said.

Officers from the school district’s police department also responded and were a significant presence to reassure school families and assist, she said.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department’s Major Case Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.