At a news conference on Wednesday morning, University of Kansas Health System doctors discussed the topic of reopening sports.
Dr. David Smith, youth sports medicine medical director at KU Health System, said youth had missed spring sports and are revved up and ready to go with summer sports.
However, he said coaches, parents and youth need to be cautious as they start back.
Dr. Smith, on the advisory committee for the Kansas State High School Athletic Association, said the state organization has issued guidelines on returning to activities. They will allow a return to youth sports on June 1, following guidelines set by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Some school districts will start youth sports on June 1, while some will wait to June 15 and July 6, he said.
He added he hopes youth will be smarter than some of the adults seen on videos last weekend at pool parties in the Ozarks.
Dr. Smith said there could be some changes ahead for sports, such as not switching sides in volleyball, or perhaps football linemen wearing face shields. Some of the ideas are not yet approved.
Dr. Vincent Key, who is a doctor to the Kansas City Royals, said parents need to be cautious and very thoughtful in terms of getting their youth back out and into athletics.
Dr. Key said if anyone at home is immune-compromised or has an underlying disease, such as lung disease, the parents have to take all of those factors into consideration when letting the child return to sports.
“It’s not just the child, it’s everyone around the child, the entire family,” he said.
Dr. Smith said if one person on the team gets COVID-19 it could, in theory, shut down the whole season for the team, as the other athletes could have to quarantine. The young athletes will need to be honest if they are not feeling well, and stay home if they are sick.
Nick Kenny, trainer for the Kansas City Royals, said at the news conference that he would let his child play sports if it’s appropriate. However, if a member in the family is immune-compromised, they would have to weigh the risk of allowing a child to play a sport resulting in bringing something back to a person in the household.
Kenny said the Royals are staying ready and staying fit, waiting for the reopening.
Keeping safe in the Royals dugout will be the same as being safe anywhere else, and will include staying six feet away from others as much as possible, and not sharing items, he said. There will be no high-fives, no fist bumping, no spitting, and players will use hand sanitizer, he said. There will be a person who will have the job of making sure everyone in the dugout is socially distancing and following health guidelines, he said.
Dr. Key said youth teams, including high school teams, may want to appoint a volunteer parent to make sure social distancing and health practices are maintained in dugouts.
Kenny said they would love to have the fans back in the stadium, and a lot is dependent on the recommendation of Major League Baseball, as well as what the mayor and governor think. A task force meets on the topic of a reopening plan every Wednesday.
Wyandotte County’s parks department has issued guidelines about what’s allowed at the local parks. For example, courts and fields located at the parks are open, but are limited to non-contact sports, with proper social distancing and no more than 15 people. The local rules rely on KPRA reopening guidelines. The county rules are at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County, on its COVID-19 webpage today, reported a smaller increase of positive COVID-19 cases from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, with four more cases, totaling 1,276, and no new deaths from Tuesday, totaling 72.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said they may be just starting to see any changes that may have occurred with the reopening plan going into effect two weeks ago. They won’t know if there are any upticks in the number based on Memorial Day partying until about two weeks from now. Dr. Stites said they are now seeing a number of young people who are patients, with a lot of them getting better and going home.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said there were 20 COVID-19 patients at KU Health System on Wednesday, with eight in the intensive care unit and three on ventilation. The numbers were similar to Tuesday.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1103468550018634/?v=1103468550018634.
The UG’s COVID-19 information page is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County is under the state’s Phase 2 plan at covid.ks.gov.
The state plan’s frequently asked questions page is at https://covid.ks.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reopening-FAQ_5.19.2020_Final.pdf.
Additional guidelines from the governor’s office about Phase 2 are at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/AdAstraUpdate519.pdf.
Test sites are listed at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.