The new health order allowing bars and restaurants to stay open until midnight means that the bars and restaurants are taking on more responsibility in making sure they follow health practices, according to Mayor David Alvey.
Mayor Alvey, discussing the health order that was issued Tuesday, said at a news conference Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System that the Unified Government met with bar and restaurant owners in a virtual meeting last week and talked about extending the hours and their mitigation measures.
The mayor also said he visited several sites and was satisfied that the hours could be safely adjusted.
He said the UG has always allowed the Health Department to gather data, and the UG was supportive of what the department led them through. At the same time as they brought the mitigation measures, they tried to maintain life as normal as possible, he said.
“Over the past nine or 10 months, we’ve erred on the side of caution,” Mayor Alvey said. Looking at the data during the past several weeks, they saw that other mitigation measures, such as limiting the size of gatherings, were more effective in limiting the spread of the virus, he said.
Mayor Alvey said if the bars and restaurants do not comply with the health order and do not take the mitigation steps, health inspectors will visit them and enforce the order.
He said bar owners are monitoring and enforcing the mitigation steps, and they don’t want to be known as a source of spread.
Leading up to the new health order issued Jan. 12, which took effect Jan. 13, was an effort by bar and restaurant owners and chamber of commerce officials.
The bar owners appeared before a UG committee Jan. 4 to tell commissioners that some of them were in danger of closing because they were losing customers to Johnson and Leavenworth counties, where bars stayed open later. They told the committee that they had lost significant amounts of revenue during 2020, and some bars had had to lay off workers. The bar owners were considering a petition drive.
Mayor Alvey said on Jan. 14 that when people push back against the health orders, they usually say it’s taking away their personal responsibility. But here the bars and restaurants have taken on more responsibility, he said. After meeting with them and seeing the steps they are taking, he said he felt very confident about it.
He said the UG is trying to care for public health, and also care for everything else.
Dr. Jason Glenn, professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine at KU Medical Center, said in many cases they have to try to achieve a balance between people who are at high vulnerability for infection, people who have high vulnerability in mortality and people who work in sectors that have high vulnerability.
Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer for Wyandotte County, said they’ve tried hard to factor in different things as the pandemic has gone along. In the past they have had to balance collective safety with individual freedoms, he said.
In Kansas, they thought they would see a post-Thankgiving surge in cases, but they really didn’t see that in Wyandotte County, Dr. Greiner said. People changed their behavior over the Thanksgiving holiday in some counties, he said. They weren’t seeing many cases coming out of bars here, and they were trying to align with Johnson and Wyandotte counties, he added.
Almost all the health care workers in Wyandotte County that they can identify have been vaccinated, according to Dr. Greiner. When more vaccine is available, and the next phase of vaccinations start, the Health Department would like to give out 2,000 doses of vaccine each day at the former Kmart store at 78th and State.
Dr. Greiner asked residents to fill out a vaccine interest form on the UG website at https://us.openforms.com/Form/2f2bcc68-3b6a-450b-9007-d39819db6572 in order to be notified when the vaccine is available. The form will ask questions about the residents’ age and conditions, and the answers will help them determine when the residents should receive the vaccine.
Dr. Greiner said he thought Johnson County was a little behind with vaccinating its health care workers, with not having enough vaccine available, and that Wyandotte County had vaccinated some of them at its site.
Dr. Stites said everyone working together will help businesses.
Following all the mitigation measures will help to knock the coronavirus down, Mayor Alvey said.
Dr. Stites said they are vaccinating about 60 percent of health care workers, with the rest “vaccine hesitant.” Dr. Greiner said they were seeing similar things, with national surveys showing 50 percent would get vaccinated.
As more health care workers have now been vaccinated, there will be more data on safety, and people will be able to see that the vaccines are safe, according to Dr. Greiner. It will be necessary to convince people that it’s right to get the vaccine, and the numbers will need to be higher than 50 percent.
Dr. Glenn said they will have to combat misinformation that is circulating that could make people hesitant to get the vaccine. Communities already may be mistrustful because of past inequities in health care.
Mayor Alvey said the pandemic has revealed a lotof stress fractures in the body politic, and in general, people do not feel close to their centers of power. They know, however, one of the best ways to stop the coronavirus to get the vaccine, he said.
Dr. Greiner said the current guidelines from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment are that all counties need to finish the first phase before they move on to the second phase. That plan may change, however. He said Wyandotte County is committed to helping others.
Mayor Alvey said if residents get the first round of vaccine, they will be able to get the second dose, as those doses are already reserved.
About 2,500 health care workers in Wyandotte County have already been vaccinated, according to Dr. Greiner. Dr. Stites said together they have done about 10,000 doses.
Wyandotte County plans two other vaccination sites besides the former Kmart building, according to Mayor Alvey.
Dr. Greiner said residents need to get on the list to be contacted, and they could do that at the website, https://us.openforms.com/Form/2f2bcc68-3b6a-450b-9007-d39819db6572. If they don’t have the internet, residents may call 3-1-1, he said.
Dr. Stites said although there may be a shortage of vaccine now, in a few months, there probably will be a lot of vaccine. In the meantime, residents should stay safe, wear a mask, wash their hands and distance, he said.
COVID-19 case numbers
The KU Health System has reached a plateau for COVID-19 case numbers, according to the doctors. Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said there were 69 active COVID-19 patients hospitalized on Thursday morning at KU Health System, an increase of nine from Wednesday. There were 21 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, a decrease of four from Wednesday, and 10 of the ICU patients were on ventilators, a decrease of one from Wednesday. In addition, 48 other COVID-19 patients were still hospitalized, but were out of the acute phase, a decrease of two since Wednesday. The total of COVID-19 patients was 117, an increase of seven since Wednesday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 107 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, Jan. 14, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative 15,923 cases. There was a cumulative total of 209 deaths.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 137,211 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Thursday. There were 1,665 deaths, and 159 was the daily average of new hospitalizations.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday reported 23,313,103 total cumulative cases in the United States, with 388,692 total deaths nationwide.
Free COVID-19 testing available Friday
The Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 test site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State will be open on Friday, Jan. 15, with testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tests are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County. The tests are nasopharyngeal swab tests. The Health Department no longer uses saliva tests.
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. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.
COVID-19 tests will be available from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Pierson Community Center parking lot, 1800 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. Hours are subject to change depending on the weather and other factors. These tests are through WellHealth Management. For more information and to schedule a test, visit www.GoGetTested.com/Kansas.
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.
For more information about the testing site at the former Kmart location, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/10092020_newtestingsitewyco.pdf.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/3350576981712885.
The new health order on hours for bars and restaurants is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/localhealthofficerorder011221.pdf.
Information about the new health order on extended hours for bars and restaurants is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/01112021ugissuesnewbarrestaurantorder.pdf.
The school health order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/localhealthofficerschoolorder01042021.pdf.
A letter explaining the school health order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/schoolletter_01052021_english.pdf.
To see information about the UG giving vaccines to health care workers, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/ug-to-start-giving-covid-19-vaccines-to-health-department-and-ems-personnel-next-week/.
Wyandotte County residents who are interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine may sign up at https://us.openforms.com/Form/2f2bcc68-3b6a-450b-9007-d39819db6572.
The KDHE vaccine report is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1708/COVID-19-Vaccine-Updates–123020-FINAL-PDF?bidId=.
Cards and letters of encouragement for caregivers at KU Health System may be sent to Share Joy, care of Patient Relations, 4000 Cambridge St., Mailstop 1021, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160. Emails can be sent to [email protected].
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask and social distancing order.
The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
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.
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