The University of Kansas Health System on Monday morning reported 17 positive COVID-19 patients, including eight in the intensive care unit and four on ventilators, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health. It was an increase of two cases since Friday.
He said the numbers at the health system were pretty stable over the weekend, with some discharges and some admissions. However, case numbers are climbing in the nation, he added.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer of KU Health System, noted that there was an increase last week from nine to 18 positive COVID-19 inpatients at KU Health System.
While infections are still less than 1 percent of the population, people are traveling and moving around, and may be taking COVID-19 with them, Dr. Hawkinson said.
“Everything is just a plane trip away right now in our society and in our world,” he said. Cases probably will continue to increase, but they will have to watch the rate of hospitalizations, case fatality rate and infection fatality rate, he said.
He said he hopes other health systems in other cities have done as they have done, and built up the amount of personal protective equipment, the medications and the hospital rooms, so if a surge happens they can better protect themselves.
Dr. Stites said he expected to see rolling waves, which he hoped won’t be a serious spike, unless there is a breakdown of the health measures in use.
Dr. Hawkinson said he didn’t see much mask use at the beach in Florida, where he is vacationing,, but they are wearing masks at stores. For the most part, it appears that mask-wearing is not that important to the tours, he added. He said the doctors would have to continue their messages about wearing masks, social distancing and hand hygiene.
Dr. Stites remarked that he didn’t see much mask-wearing while on vacation this past weekend in the Ozarks.
During the news conference, Justin Hoover, executive director of The Battle Within – Frontline Therapy Network said his organization is providing six free teletherapy sessions to first responders on the front lines.
Hoover is a military veteran who received two Purple Hearts. He went into marketing after leaving the military, and left a marketing job to found The Battle Within, which helps veterans and first responders develop skills to help them with healing.
He started a five-day program that is now available to military veterans, law enforcement officers, corrections officers, EMS workers and medical professionals on the front lines.
Six free therapy sessions are provided to the front-line workers. Hoover said front-line workers had no safe space, as life became difficult at work, and also at home where the workers and their families were having to restrict their contact with the outside world.
Whitney Logan , clinical director of The Battle Within, said people are reporting increased stress and anxiety. They are able to get them the help they need quickly and conveniently, she said.
Funding has been through Vets United, Blue KC and Humana, according to Hoover.
Logan said veterans often are hypervigilant, and it’s often hard to unwind when they come home. Some of the same effects can be seen in health care workers currently, she believes. They encourage people to stay safe, wear masks, continue hand washing and distance, while also showing them practices such as mindfulness, meditation, breathing, nature walks or other methods to calm down.
She said the social and emotional toll of the pandemic has been as great as the physical toll.
Dr. Greg Nawalanic, a psychologist at KU Health System, said there has been a strange flip in public behavior in the past two weeks. While he doesn’t have any real data yet, he has noticed a lot of people saying that “I did enough, this is enough and I’m going back out,” he said.
Nothing has changed in the medical situation, but it is a sort of disregard for the proverbial wolf at the door, he remarked. People who are wearing masks now are sometimes looked at as if they are the strange one currently, he added. He advised people to continue being cautious, wear masks and distance. He thought it was important to err on the side of caution.
Hoover said he saw hypervigilance in the military abroad, every time people went outside the wire. The same sort of reaction can be seen here in the civilian population, where people don’t easily turn off their hypervigilance, he said.
Logan said the emotion of fear comes up to help keep people safe. Once people have taken actions such as socially distancing, wearing a mask and washing their hands, they can them calm themselves down.
Dr. Nawalanic said it is important for families to have calm discussions about what their family plan is, and what they will do about getting together with others.
Wyandotte County today reported 1,677 positive COVID-19 cases at 1 p.m. June 15. It was an increase of 17 cases from 1 p.m. June 14. There was no change in the number of deaths.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/2349386432032390/?v=2349386432032390.
The state’s COVID-19 test page is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/280/COVID-19-Testing
The UG’s COVID-19 information page is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County is currently under Phase 3. See 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.
Test sites are listed on the Wyandotte County website 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.