The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, is now full, and is turning down five or six transfer requests daily from other areas, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer.
Dr. Stites made his remarks Wednesday morning at KU Health System. There was a total of 56 COVID-19 patients in the hospital Wednesday morning, including 31 active patients, he said. The hospital had a peak of 38 active COVID-19 patients a few days ago.
“We are back in trouble again,” Dr. Stites said. The third wave of the pandemic is here, and other hospitals in the Kansas City metropolitan area are experiencing similar situations approaching capacity, he said.
Much of Missouri and a lot of the Kansas City area now are considered high risk areas for COVID-19.
Dr. Stites said people should get vaccinated and follow the rules of infection prevention and control.
“Don’t wait for public health officials to tell you to mask when you’re indoors,” Dr. Stites said. Avoid gathering in large groups, he added.
“This has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Dr. Stites said. Most of the COVID-19 patients in the hospital are not vaccinated.
Sixty percent of Missouri residents are unvaccinated as are 57 percent of Kansans.
Ninety percent of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated with the rest all having chronic serious medical conditions, according to Dr. Stites.
The hospital is full because it was experiencing a number of other regular procedures, and then has 56 COVID-19 patients in addition.
The panel of guests, who were infectious disease doctors, believe going back to mask mandates is inevitable because of the low vaccination rates and the rapid spread of the Delta variant. They agreed the only way to stop things from getting worse is a change in behavior, both in vaccination uptake and mask wearing.
The infectious disease doctors also discussed comparisons of the HIV-AIDS pandemic with the COVID-19 pandemic.To view their comments, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/415961346331568.
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.
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 31 active COVID-19 patients on Wednesday morning at the University of Kansas Health System, a decrease of two from Tuesday, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer. Eleven patients were in the intensive care unit, an increase of two from Tuesday. Six were on ventilators, an increase of one from Tuesday. Another 25 patients were hospitalized because of COVID-19 but were out of the acute infection phase, an increase of three from Tuesday. There were 56 total COVID patients, an increase of one since Tuesday.
Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 19,582 cases on Wednesday, an increase of 26 since Tuesday, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 301 deaths reported, an increase of one since Tuesday.
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 181,991 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Wednesday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 92.
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 Wednesday night reported 34,226,806 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 609,862 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 42,703 new cases nationwide.
Countries with new cases rising were United Kingdom, 46,688; U.S., 42,703; India, 42,015; Indonesia, 38,325; and Brazil, 26,403, according to Johns Hopkins information.
Vaccine doses reported administered in the United States Tuesday, 243,940. Forty-nine percent of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated.
Vaccines administered: Texas, 42,529; Michigan, 33,567; Florida, 33,241; New York, 24,418; and California, 18,743.
Global vaccination progress: Colombia, 214.8 million; China, 22.946 million; India, 3.626 million; France 2.421 million; and U.S., 243,900.
Free testing available
Free COVID-19 testing is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, July 22, 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.
Free testing also is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 22, at the Vibrant Health Argentine location, 1428 S. 32nd St., Kansas City, Kansas.
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 update is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/971472483599576.
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.