Gov. Laura Kelly’s COVID-19 testing van will stop on Saturday, June 27, at Mercy and Truth Medical Missions, 721 N. 31st St. There will be free food distributed to the first 300 people attending and free COVID-19 testing between 11 am. and 2 p.m. Saturday.
Gov. Laura Kelly’s coronavirus testing van will make its inaugural stop at Mercy and Truth Medical Missions to provide free tests on Saturday, June 27.
Mercy and Truth is partnering with AdventHealth Shawnee Mission and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to offer free food and cleaning supplies as well as testing, according to a spokesman for Mercy and Truth.
Mercy and Truth will provide translation in five languages, making the event accessible to non-English speakers and patients of different cultural backgrounds, including resettled refugees. English, Spanish, Nepalese, Burmese and Swahili translations will be available.
Testing will take place at the Mercy and Truth Clinic parking lot at 721 N. 31st St. in Kansas City, Kansas, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. June 27. The location is between Minnesota Avenue and Park Drive. Twelve medics from the Kansas National Guard will be present.
Cleaning supplies and 300 food boxes will be available on a first come, first served basis.
Those who want to get tested for COVID-19 or pick up food will stay in their cars, according to the spokesman. They will be in the parking lot of the clinic. Volunteers will put food in the trunk and ask them if they want to get tested. If they want to get tested, they will stay in their cars and take the test there, in order to keep social distancing.
Mercy and Truth serves many patients whose populations face disproportionately high COVID numbers locally, such as refugees from Asian countries. Additionally, the population sharing the clinic’s zip code, 66102, has recorded more cases than any other zip code in the county.
Wyandotte County at 1 p.m. Tuesday reported 1,899 total cumulative positive COVID-19 cases. It was an increase of 23 cases since 1 p.m. Monday. Hospitalizations were up in Wyandotte County. The number of deaths was the same as Monday. (UG COVID-19 website)
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas health secretary, said COVID-19 cases are increasing in a more accelerated rate.
“We’re on a bit of a banana peel,” Dr. Norman said during a news conference Tuesday morning sponsored by the University of Kansas Health System.
The state’s case number is now over 12,000, with seven more deaths since Friday, he said..
The state has dealt with outbreaks in nursing homes, congregate living situations, work places and social gatherings, he said. A few cases have been seen from gatherings such as protests and party cove gatherings, according to Dr. Norman.
In Kansas, three small funerals have resulted in 40 to 50 positive COVID-19 cases and one death so far, Dr. Norman said.
“I just have a problem with gatherings,” he said. Nobody is protected in mass gatherings, he added. It’s one of the reasons the governor recommended on Monday that the state should stay in Phase 3 of the Ad Astra reopening plan.
Also, when there are less than 45 people in a gathering, people still need to social distance, he said.
The doctors at KU Health System have recommended avoiding large gatherings, and also have recommended both social distancing and wearing masks at gatherings.
Dr. Norman said it doesn’t make sense that mask-wearing has been politicized.
“Masks work, it’s not a new discovery,” he said. It’s been known for a long time, he added.
He said any time he can’t control his environment, such as when he steps outside of his office, he wears a mask.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said he has seen people inside restaurants not wearing masks.
He asked, if a person is going to have open heart surgery, would they want the surgeon to operate without a mask?
It shows the mindset, “I’m protecting me but I don’t care as much about you,” Dr. Norman said.
“COVID is not a hoax, mask wearing is not a crime. Taking care of your friends is the right thing to do,” Dr. Stites said.
Kansas this week added Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas and Maryland to the quarantine list. Anyone who travels there must quarantine when coming back to Kansas, currently.
Dr. Norman said it has been based on new data on case rate growth.
The states that are joining the list have per capita new case rates of three to five times greater than the rate in Kansas, he said. The states are put on the quarantine list in two-week increments. When the rate declines to below the Kansas rate, the KDHE will take those states off the list.
Dr. Norman also said the state is trying hard not to shut down education and business. The state is currently working on a plan to reopen schools safely.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has been working closely with the Kansas Department of Education, and the Department of Education will roll out recommendations after meeting with the school superintendents’ association, he said. It is the local school boards that will determine when school will open, he added. The state health department will provide guidance.
He said the state now has trained about 400 contact tracers to help with tracking COVID-19 cases. He said it will be helpful to have the contact tracers in place as school opens, and he thinks 400 will be enough. He doesn’t believe they need more than 400.
With more tests available, protective gear and contact tracing, the state is in pretty good shape for being able to respond better, he said. With significant increased testing, the state and local health departments can reach large numbers of people during outbreaks. People who have been exposed or who test positive can then be quarantined.
He said the state recently was able to assist at two large outbreaks, one in a county jail and the other at a plant in southeast Kansas. They were able to go in the same day, assess the situation, gather test samples and get test results back by the end of the next day, he said. Seven days later they can repeat the tests.
“I think our resiliency is much better than it was,” Dr. Norman said. “We’re very much loath to close anything down if we don’t have to.”
Dr. Norman said he thinks they’re still on an 18-to-24-month slide through this. Dr. Stites said he was more optimistic and would guess 12 months.
Dr. Stites said it’s his opinion that it’s not the health care offices that people should fear, it’s the bars. People are close together, yell and discharge droplets into the air at bars, Dr. Norman said.
That might be why COVID-19 has been affecting more 20-30 year-olds, and that age group has been increasing among patients at the hospital, Dr. Stites said.
The doctors said they believe there has been no significant difference in the virus itself, but the wearing of masks and other health measures such as hand-washing and social distancing have been working.
Dr. Stites said that while it is true that the older COVID-19 patients have been hit harder by the disease as a group, it is also true that patients in any age group can die. The risk goes down significantly in the younger patients, though.
Also at the news conference was Chelsey Smith, representing the Greater Kansas City Community Blood Center.
She said blood donations went up a little after she was on the program recently, but the blood supply is still low. It’s currently under a three-day supply, when they usually have a seven-day supply, she said.
She encouraged everyone to go to a blood center and donate blood now if they are healthy. The centers are safe, temperatures are being checked at the door, people are wearing masks and there is social distancing, she added.
The University of Kansas Health System will hold a blood drive from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Friday in the Health Education Building. For more information or to make an appointment to give blood, visit esavealifenow.com.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said KU Health System had 24 COVID-19 patients in the hospital on Tuesday morning. There were 21 patients on Monday. Seven were critically ill and six were on the ventilator.
“We are starting to see the numbers creep up a little bit,” he said, adding they don’t want that.
Wyandotte County at 1 p.m. Tuesday reported 1,899 total cumulative positive COVID-19 cases. It was an increase of 23 cases since 1 p.m. Monday. There were 78 total deaths, the same number as Monday. Hospitalizations went up to 29, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 website. There were 602 recoveries.
Mercy and Truth clinic at 721 N. 31st, Kansas City, Kansas, will be the site for the new KDHE mobile testing van on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to a clinic spokesman. There will be free COVID-19 testing and also 200 free food boxes. Translators will be available in five languages.
Wyandotte County reported 1,876 cases at 1 p.m. Monday, an increase of 47 cases since 1 p.m. Sunday. There were no additional deaths reported. (UG COVID-19 webpage)The Wyandotte County 7-day rolling average of positive COVID-19 cases showed that case numbers fluctuate, and they went up a little in recent weeks. (UG COVID-19 webpage)
Gov. Laura Kelly today recommended that the state stay in Phase 3 of the Ad Astra plan, as the number of positive cases is rising.
The state reported 406 new COVID-19 cases since Friday and five more deaths, she said. The state is in Phase 3 currently, and it is now guidance and not mandatory, as the state changed to local community control concerning COVID-19 guidelines on May 27. Wyandotte County is under a mandatory local health order for Phase 3.
Gov. Kelly said she knows everyone is tired of COVID-19 and they want to get back with their families and groups, however people must remain vigilant as the virus is still in the communities and is spreading.
Until there is a cure or vaccination, residents should continue social distancing, avoid mass gatherings, practice good hygiene, not go out when sick and wear masks, she said.
The state uses disease spread, deaths and hospitalization rates as three measurements to determine when to move to the next phase, she said.
Before May 27, cases in the state were trending downward, she said. After, the state is seeing an increase.
Kansas reported 12,465 positive cases on Monday, an increase of 406 cases since Friday, Gov. Kelly said. There were five more deaths in the state, for a cumulative total of 259.
Wyandotte County reported 1,876 cases at 1 p.m. Monday, an increase of 47 cases since 1 p.m. Sunday. There were no additional deaths reported.
At the University of Kansas Health System on Monday morning, there was a slight increase since Friday, with 21 COVID-19 patients, an increase of three since Friday, according to hospital officials. Eight patients were in the intensive care unit, while six were on ventilators, the same as Friday.
Gov. Kelly reported Monday that the number of COVID-19 patients in the state associated with gatherings is steadily increasing. They are now seeing clusters in the state that were associated with funerals, graduations and Mother’s Day gatherings, she said. There were 187 clusters in the state, with 96 of them still active, she said.
Recent clusters reported in Wyandotte County were at the Bonner Springs Nursing and Rehab, where 5 cases were reported, according to the UG’s COVID-19 website. Another outbreak recently reported was at the General Motors Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kansas, where 5 cases have been reported, according to the website.
A spokesman for the UG Health Department said that a couple of recent outbreaks were under investigation. Staff is working closely to monitor and help reduce the spread of COVID-19, she said. Testing has been done at the nursing home in Bonner Springs, and they are now looking at another possible round of testing, she said.
Doctors and staff at the KU Health System today discussed what they know now about COVID-19 that they didn’t know at the start.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical direction of infection prevention and control at the KU Health System, said that antibody testing began today at the KU Health System. However, they still don’t have a clear idea of what the results mean or how individuals can benefit from it.
Changes noted in communicating
Dr. Chris Brown said he has seen a lot of changes in how doctors communicate with nurses, family members and pastoral care staff. They used technology to connect with families.
He’s also seen a change in the medications that were initially offered to patients – some of them such as hydroxychloroquine are no longer used. As more information because available, they had to change quite a bit, he added.
Chaplain Kathy Riegelman said the ways to connect with families who are not able to be in the hospital with their loved ones has changed. It’s always been her belief that “distance doesn’t diminish the love,” she said. “It will reach the person.” People have found more creative ways to show their love, she added.
Ashleigh Adams, a registered nurse, said, “The Zoom meetings were amazing.”
The nurses sometimes had to explain to family members what each team member said, because family members could not be at the bedside, she said. Now the rules have changed a little, allowing one visitor.
Wearing masks
On the topic of wearing masks, Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said one thing that has changed is they are no longer as much concerned about coronavirus getting on food and on surfaces as they are about people preparing the food and serving it who don’t wear a mask.
Dr. Hawkinson said when he went to Florida, about half the people in airports were not wearing masks. That contrasted with Colorado, where people are wearing masks in public, he said.
Dr. Hawkinson said he encourages people who work in food service to wear masks. When getting takeout food, in general people should set it out, take it out of the package, and wash their hands before they eat, to reduce the chance of getting COVID-19, he said.
“When people in confined areas get together, it spreads very easily,” Dr. Hawkinson said. It will spread in large gatherings if people are not practicing physical distancing, wearing a mask and using good hand hygiene, he said.
Adams said she had noticed some people not wearing masks when they were in the grocery store, and she was careful to wear a mask.
When she talks to young people about wearing masks, she says it’s “about grandma and grandpa, not just about you, it’s about others,” she said. “It’s about everybody, we’ve all got to be in this together.”
Riegelman said she tries to bring the discussion about masks back to the facts. She will try to help people realize there really isn’t any magic protection if you’re a person of faith, she said. “This is a virus that doesn’t make distinctions in that.” She asks people to keep safe so they can keep serving others.
Courtney Ash, director of respiratory therapy at KU Health System, said when she goes out in public she’s all masked up. She said she tells young health care workers that they should be leaders, and set the example for wearing a mask and keeping others safe. She added that her staff is thankful for the great outpouring of support shown by the community that keeps them going.
