Kansas City area residents should get a flu shot, according to Mark Logan, with public health communications for Comeback Kansas City.
Logan said that by getting a flu shot, residents can avoid the “twindemic” – getting the flu and COVID-19. Logan spoke at a news conference on Monday morning sponsored by the University of Kansas Health System.
Comeback Kansas City is an organization sponsored by several public and private organizations, including the Mid-America Regional Council, and it promotes a safe recovery from COVID-19.
“We envision a time when all of this is more or less in the rear view,” Logan said Monday.
Logan said people should probably be looking at alternate ways to celebrate the holidays this year. Family reunions can turn into spreader events, he said, and people still need to socially distance, wear masks and wash hands.
Also, they are encouraging good health practices, as everyone wants businesses to be open and the economy to be thriving, he said.
This changing colder weather could be a challenging time for restaurants, which may be at risk as the temperatures turn cooler and there isn’t as much outdoor dining.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health System, was concerned that on a busy night at a restaurant, the risk is higher eating indoors than it is in the summer when people may eat outdoors.
Dr. Hawkinson and Logan said they try to support the restaurants by ordering takeout food as much as possible.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer with the KU Health System, said some restaurants could still have outdoor dining, with a tent or canopy structure and a heater. He said he was a little concerned about dining indoors, where the virus could be in the air.
Logan said Comeback Kansas City will have a new tool coming out, called “COVID, Can I Do It?” that will help people assess the risk of various activities, knowing the risk and keeping as safe as possible. It will help people understand what factors create the risks and how to avoid those activities that are most risky.
Comeback Kansas City also encourages using a contact tracing app that can notify people through their cell phones if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19. More information on the app is at https://pathcheck.org/.
More information about Comeback Kansas City is at https://www.comebackkc.com/.
Also at the news conference Monday was Royals trainer Nick Kenney, who described some of the challenges the Royals faced with COVID-19. The season this year started three months later than usual, but the Royals were still able to play. The team, a mixture of younger and older players and coaches, worked hard to control the virus.
While there were a total of 10 COVID-19 cases, Kenney said the cases were not acquired at the team’s facilities. He said one of the reasons they were able to control the virus, besides the hard work of the players, was also that they had one set of rules that applied to all buildings, rooms and facilities. Those rules included social distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene.
Updated case numbers
Dr. Hawkinson reported 24 acute COVID-19 patients at KU Health System on Monday morning, an increase from 22 on Friday. There were 11 patients in the intensive care unit, an increase from nine Friday, and eight patients on ventilators, no change from Friday. Although these numbers have increased slightly, they are lower than a week ago, when there were 30 patients.
KU Health System also has 25 other COVID-19 patients who are no longer in the acute phase, an increase from 20 on Friday, he said. HaysMed in Hays, Kansas, reported 17 inpatients on Monday, a decrease from 23 on Friday.
Wyandotte County reported an additional 50 COVID-19 cases on Monday afternoon, for a cumulative total of 7,510, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were four additional deaths reported, for a cumulative total of 138.
The state of Kansas reported an additional 2,055 COVID-19 cases on Monday, since last Friday, for a cumulative total of 67,862, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There were eight additional deaths, for a cumulative total of 771.
Free testing continues
Free tests are available from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The tests are available through the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force and Vibrant Health.
Free tests also continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday at the UG Health Department, 619 Ann Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
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 because of the weather or for other reasons.
More information about testing is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19,
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1327511030918493/
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The Unified Government COVID-19 hub outbreak map at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/.
To see an NEA list of schools that have had COVID-19 cases, visit https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=aa3f2ede7cb2415db943fdaf45866d2f.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.