A few more short takes while I hope I don’t run out of toilet paper.
I didn’t realize it, but a smart aleck quip from late night host Johnny Carson in 1973 caused a run on toilet paper. He later apologized for the remark. The run wasn’t anything like it is today, however.
This is a strange time—something that I haven’t experienced. I’ve seen floods, tornados, civil disorders and the flu, but nothing quite like the coronavirus.
The word corona, according to the online Free Dictionary, is defined as “a halo appearing to surround a celestial body.” It is also a Mexican beer—which has suspended production. Wonder why?
When will the worst of the coronavirus hit Kansas? No one knows exactly when and how severe. However, Dr. Lee Norman, the secretary of Kansas Health and Environment, estimates the peak of the disease could hit here in late April and last for about a couple of weeks.
The problem is that there is no vaccine for the disease. Epidemiologists across the country, particularly at Emory University in Atlanta, are working day and night to find a cure and are making remarkable progress. However, until the vaccine is found, the outbreak will not be overcome in a grand scale. In the meantime, it is important to wash your hands, keep your distance and stay at home as much as possible.
A friend who is executive editor of The Wall Street Journal, Jerry Seib, recently commented on stimulus spending. After Congress passed a $2 trillion measure, Nancy Pelosi is talking about spending even more. Jerry questions whether the country can afford it. He also appeared on Fox News with the same message.
I listened in on a teleconference last Friday afternoon that State Rep. Ron Ryckman of Olathe and other Republican legislative leaders convened. Rep. Ryckman is Speaker of the Kansas House. This was the second of such recent conferences. The first teleconference was all Republicans. The second one had a more bipartisan flavor as Gov. Laura Kelly was one of the presenters. Much of the conversation dealt with what the state is doing to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and to help small business.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.
Wyandotte County reported 172 positive COVID-19 cases and one more death at 9 a.m. Monday, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 website. (Chart from UG COVID-19 website)A graph showed the rise of COVID-19 cases in Wyandotte County, through Monday morning. (Graph from UG COVID-19 website)
Wyandotte County saw one additional death and 11 new positive COVID-19 cases, according to figures reported Monday morning on the Unified Government’s COVID-19 website.
There have been a total of 172 cases so far in Wyandotte County, according to the COVID-19 website. There were a total of seven deaths in Wyandotte County related to COVID-19.
Fifty persons were hospitalized, an increase of eight since Sunday, the UG COVID-19 website reported.
Kansas reported 747 statewide positive COVID-19 cases on Sunday morning, and a total of 22 deaths, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment website.
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System on Monday morning reported 33 positive COVID-19 cases, with nine patients on ventilators. A few came off ventilators successfully over the weekend, according to the doctors. The number of positive COVID-19 cases on Monday at the health system was the same as reported Friday. Last Thursday there were 36 positive cases at KU Health System, with 14 on ventilators.
“We’re still in the first inning, but maybe we’ve scored a run,” Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer of KU Health System, said in a news conference Monday morning.
He said he was cautiously optimistic about the curve, but they would know more later this week.
“We have to choose to beat coronavirus, and we are going to do that,” he said. “We are going to beat it by the actions of every person, every day, shelter in place, wash your hands, keep your distance,” he said., “do those things to help get to the other side.”
COVID-19 rose rapidly in the urban areas of Kansas, then it is expected to slowly spread into the rural areas, he said.
Wyandotte County and Kansas are still under stay-at-home orders.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said even if the data shows a plateau, it still will take personal discipline. Social distancing still will be necessary.
“All it takes is one gathering of five to six people, and it can spread,” he said. He added he hoped they were on a plateau and starting to see a decrease in cases.
Dr. Stites said it was important to stay home when you are sick.
The CDC has recently recommended that people wear face masks when they go outside their homes.
Tiffany Horsely, infection control nurse at KU Health System, said wearing face masks will mostly help anyone you come into contact with. The homemade masks are not considered good enough to keep health care workers from being infected as they come into contact with COVID-19 patients; health care workers generally need the commercial N95 masks.
The homemade masks may stop the virus from spreading from a person who has no symptoms but is in the early stages of infection, according to health professionals. As much as half of the population could be asymptomatic.
“The goal of the face masks is to help somebody who may be asymptomatic or presymptomatic from spreading it to other people,” Horsely said.
Dr. Hawkinson said that if you’re walking outside, any spread, coughing or sneezing, would disperse quickly, and would not be as high a risk outdoors. But if you’re coughing and sneezing in a store, there would probably be more risk there, he said.
Horsely said there are procedures to follow when putting on a mask.
People should clean their hands first, she said, then put on the mask. The nose to chin should be covered, she said.
Once it’s on the face, do not touch the mask, she said. Before taking off the mask, clean the hands again. Hold onto the mask by the earloop when taking it off. If it is a disposable mask, throw it away in the trash.
If it is a homemade fabric mask, when taking it off, clean the hands first, and put the mask in a plastic bag, she said. Wash the mask with detergent in between each use, she said.
The doctors also discussed a case from Philadelphia where the coronavirus jumped from a person to a tiger. Dr. Stites said the CDC has advised people who have the virus and have pets to try to find someone else to take care of them temporarily.
A Zip Code map from the UG’s COVID-19 website showed the highest number of cases in the 66112 Zip Code, with other high numbers in the 66014 and 66109 areas. As of 9 a.m. Monday there were 51 cases in 66112; 37 cases in 66104; 34 cases in 66109; 20 cases in 66102; 8 cases in 66101; 8 cases in 66101; 8 cases in 66111; 7 cases in 66106; and 7 cases in 66012. (Map from UG’s COVID-19 website)
Wyandotte County positive COVID-19 cases increased to 161 on Sunday morning, compared to 147 cases on Saturday morning. (Graphic from UG COVID-19 website)The number of cases has been increasing in Wyandotte County. (Graph from UG COVID-19 website)More than 45 counties in Kansas have at least one positive COVID-19 case, according to a map on the KDHE COVID-19 website. (KDHE COVID-19 map)A graph showed the rise of the total number of COVID-19 cases in Kansas. (KDHE COVID-19 graph)
Wyandotte County positive COVID-19 cases increased to 161 on Sunday morning, April 5, an increase of 14 since Saturday morning, according to statistics on the Unified Government’s COVID-19 website.
Kansas reported statewide positive cases totaling 747 on Sunday morning, as compared to 698 on Saturday morning, an increase of 51. The number of new cases declined a little from Saturday’s 78 to the Sunday numbers.
The state recorded 22 deaths, an increase of one death since Saturday morning, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment statistics. The death was in Johnson County, according to the Johnson County Health Department website.
There were the same number of total deaths, six, in Wyandotte County as Saturday morning, and the same number of total hospitalizations, 42, according to the UG website.
Johnson County had 192 positive cases on Sunday morning, as compared to 183 positive cases on Saturday morning, according to the Johnson County Health Department website. Johnson County reported one additional death on Sunday, bringing its total deaths to eight.
Wyandotte County experienced an increase of positive cases this past week from a nursing home where 17 patients had tested positive for COVID-19, according to a UG news release Friday night.
A UG COVID-19 map of Wyandotte County showed the number of positive cases in Zip Code area: 44 cases in 66112; 34 cases in 66104; 30 cases in 66109; 19 cases in 66102; 8 cases in 66111; 7 cases in 66101; 7 cases in 66106; and 5 cases in 66012. (UG COVID-19 map)
