The Kansas City area now is past the tipping point and is in trouble, Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, said during a Thursday morning medical media update.
“What we have to recognize is Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas is now the epicenter of this third wave outbreak in the United States,” Dr. Stites said.
The outbreak has moved north from Springfield, Missouri, to the Kansas City area, as well as moved south to Arkansas, Oklahoma and other areas, he said.
He said he thinks the chief medical officers in the Kansas City area will call for a return to the mask mandates and social distancing. Several CMOs discussed the issue in a telephone call Thursday morning and are all in favor of it, he said.
“We’re in trouble in hospitals. Bed capacity is past its limits,” Dr. Stites said. They are now putting patients in alternative care areas, having to turn down transfers, and they have a lot of sick patients.
The difference between now and the fall is there weren’t as many people then sick with routine things from the community, he said. There are a lot of patients sick now, he said, and it will continue.
Infection control guidelines could help shut off the flow of some of those patients, and open beds, he said.
If they delay surgeries, they would be delaying some things that are really urgent, he said. Most elective surgeries now are outpatient procedures, he said. There is a severe shortage of inpatient beds currently throughout the community, he added.
It has been since late November and December that they have seen these kinds of numbers at the hospitals here, he said. Today, there are well over 300 COVID-19 positive patients in six large hospitals in the Greater Kansas City area, he said.
What’s different between now and last fall is the bed crisis is worse now in the Kansas City area, he said. Influenza, RSV and other illnesses are out there, with COVID numbers continuing to rise.
“We are not vaccinated like we need to be, and people have just gone back to trying to live life as normal, when in reality, we live in abnormal times,” Dr. Stites said. “What we should be fearful of is that we won’t be able to give care to people who need it.”
The shortage of beds could affect not only COVID patients, but also heart patients, cancer patients and all other patients, according to Dr. Stites.
In Springfield, they tried to put a field hospital up, and possibly, they may be getting close to discussing that here, he said.
Also, hospitals don’t have enough staff to meet a surge, he said. Staff are getting sick again, and staff need some time off, he said.
The Kansas City area now has to take the leadership position, as it is the epicenter, he said.
Dr. Stites said he applauded school districts that are going to mask mandates in the fall.
“The storm is here,” he said. “Take shelter from the storm.”
The rules of infection prevention and control will keep people safe, he said. Those need to be reinstated, and people need to get vaccinated, he said.
“This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” he said. Less than 10 percent of the people currently in the hospital with COVID-19 are vaccinated, he said.
“It is overwhelming our systems, it is overwhelming our ability to care for people, and it is time for us to take action,” Dr. Stites said.
Dr. Barbara Pahud, research director of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy Hospital, said there are more cases of respiratory illnesses, and Children’s Mercy Hospital also is short of beds.
What makes the situation different from last year is there is a vaccine now that could prevent COVID-19, she said.
“You cannot go back and open the world up without social distancing, masks and vaccines and expect life to go back to normal,” she said. “COVID is still here, the pandemic is still here, we can make it go away if we vaccinate. If we don’t, we’re still facing the same problems.”
Dr. Stephen Lauer, a pediatrician, said they know masking and distancing work. They didn’t have colds and flu during the regular flu season this year, and now they are seeing RSV and flu in the summer.
As students prepare to go back to school, masking will have to play a role to keep the schools safe this fall, especially as vaccines are not available yet for children under 12, Dr. Lauer said.
Dr. Pahud said the earliest vaccines could be available for children under 12 would probably be November, but it is more likely to be January. Vaccines will not be ready by the time school starts, she believes.
The worst thing that can happen is to reopen schools without a mask mandate while the pandemic is still going, Dr. Stites said. They would have to close the schools again, he added.
Dr. Pahud said that as long as there are unvaccinated people, the virus can mutate, and if you think the Delta variant is scary, the next variant could be much worse. Every unvaccinated person is like a natural lab for mutations to develop, and the next mutation could make the vaccine worthless, she added.
Free vaccines available
Free COVID-19 vaccines will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday at the Kmart vaccination site, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Vaccines are free for people ages 12 and older. There are gifts available, as supplies last.
Central Middle School, 925 Ivandale, will be the site of free COVID-19 vaccines from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 24. Those 12 and older may be vaccinated, with ages 12 to 17 needing consent from their mother and father. The event is sponsored by El Centro with assistance from Heart to Heart International. Walk-ins are welcome, and appointments are accepted. The resource fair will include haircuts for kids, school supplies and information tables.
A community COVID vaccine event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 27, at Harmon High School, 2400 Steele Road, Kansas City, Kansas. The vaccines are for those 12 and up. There also will be a backpack giveaway, free food boxes, mobile dental truck, meal tickets for newly vaccinated participants, free ice cream and music. There will be prizes for teens getting the vaccine. There will be an opportunity to enter a drawing for more prizes.
The Unified Government Health Department has announced there will be free COVID-19 vaccinations at a Sporting KC home match at 7:30 p.m. July 31. Vaccines will be available for ticketholders attending the games, who are 12 and older. People who get vaccinated will receive a free Sporting KC scarf.
For more information on the Unified Government Health Department’s vaccine schedule, see WycoVaccines.org.
Mobile vaccines can still be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311).
Other sites available for vaccinations
Free 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
There were 33 active COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System, an increase of two from Wednesday, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer. Twelve patients were in the intensive care unit, an increase of one from Wednesday. Six were on ventilators, the same as Wednesday. Another 27 patients were hospitalized because of COVID-19 but were out of the acute infection phase, an increase of two from Wednesday. There were 60 total COVID patients, an increase of four since Wednesday.
Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 19,672 cases on Thursday, an increase of 90 since Wednesday, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 302 deaths reported, an increase of one since Wednesday.
On Wednesday, July 21, the Unified Government Health Department reported that 38.1 percent of Wyandotte County residents had received at least one dose of vaccine. Those completing their vaccinations totaled about 33 percent.
The percentage of Wyandotte County residents who were age 12 and older who had received at least one dose was 46.9 percent.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 182,924 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Thursday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 94.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 325,728 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, July 21, an increase of 1,541 since Monday, July 19. There was a total of 5,218 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of 20 since July 19.
The KDHE reported 61,655 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Johnson County on July 21, an increase of 350 since July 19. Leavenworth County had 7,618 cases, an increase of 52 since July 19. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 58,979 cases, an increase of 201 since July 19.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday night reported 34,281,864 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 610,177 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 52,032 new cases nationwide.
Countries with new cases rising were Brazil, 54,517; U.S., 52,032; United Kingdom, 44,081; India, 41,383; and Indonesia, 33,772, according to Johns Hopkins information.
Vaccine doses reported administered in the United States Wednesday, 611,493. Forty-nine percent of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated.
Vaccines administered: California, 77,043; Texas, 69,730; Florida, 43,701; North Carolina, 43,029; and New York, 36,942.
Global vaccination progress: India, 2.379 million; Uzbekistan, 2.262 million; Brazil, 2.202 million; Japan, 2.05 million; U.S., 611,500.
Free testing available
Free COVID-19 testing is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 23, at the UG Health Department’s central location, the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Free gift cards are available to those who get a test, while supplies last.
Besides Health Department sites, free COVID-19 testing is available at several locations in Wyandotte County.
Visit gogettested.com/Kansas and https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19 for more sites.
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.
The University of Kansas Health System’s media update is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/783265045690933.
The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.
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.
