Category: COVID-19

Several Kansas counties now issuing stay-home orders

Kansas now has 79 COVID-19 cases in several counties, according to the KDHE. (Map from KDHE)

Gov. Laura Kelly today said the state will be working with each county that has issued stay-home orders to provide assistance.

Gov. Kelly said there are now several counties with stay-home orders issued, including Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Douglas, Atchison, Doniphan, Miami and Lyon. The decisions were made by local officials to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

“While none of us want to see these orders go into effect, they are necessary to slow the spread of coronavirus in the community,” Gov. Kelly said.

Gov. Kelly said she did not issue a statewide stay-home order because 89 of the 105 counties do not have a confirmed case.

However, confirmed positive cases are expected to increase in the next 10 days, she said. The state has a framework for counties that decide to issue a stay-home order, she added. She did not rule out the possibility of a statewide order in the future.

She said on Tuesday, she would replace her order limiting mass gatherings in Kansas to 50, and in its place, a new executive order would limit mass gatherings to 10 persons, and also include the new framework for counties that want to issue stay-home orders.

“All of these actions, while disruptive and unpleasant, are absolutely necessary to keep Kansans safe and healthy, and to prevent overwhelming our emergency rooms and our larger health care system,” Gov. Kelly said. “We’ve all got to do our part and work together to protect our families and our communities. We learn more about this virus every single day and we are starting to see serious cases in every age group, not just among our seniors.

“The most effective way we can slow down the spread is to stay home and practice good hygiene techniques, so please continue to wash your hands, cover your mouths if you’re coughing or sneezing, and take all of these orders seriously,” she said.

“If we all do our part now, we can get this under control much more quickly, which will lead to more lives saved, Gov. Kelly said.

Kansas COVID-19 cases up to 79

COVID-19 cases in Kansas have risen to 79 as of 10 a.m. today, Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas health secretary said. Johnson County reported 32 positive cases; Wyandotte County, 16; Douglas County, 6; and Leavenworth County, 5. Earlier reports had counted some Douglas County cases twice, according to the KDHE.

He said it was somewhat encouraging that Kansas was not seeing the doubling of numbers every three or four days that other states were seeing. Sunday’s count was 64.

A lot of the 79 positive cases in Kansas have already recovered and are leading normal lives, he added. The total also includes two persons who died.

Dr. Norman said he is projecting 300 to 400 positive COVID-19 cases in Kansas by the end of this month.

The curve is starting to creep up, he said, and their job was to level it off through adhering to public health practices including good handwashing and hygiene, and staying at home in place.

Dr. Norman said children being out of school now probably will decrease the number of COVID-19 caes in the state.

The state was running low on test kits this past weekend and then received a new shipment of 500 on Saturday, Dr. Norman said. They also requested that college sand university research labs send them test kits, and that is another 200 tests.

With commercial labs now testing here, that means there is not as much demand on the state lab, he said.

Dr. Norman said the Kansas Health and Environmental Lab will now have a different strategy, since private labs are now testing.

Health care workers and first responders who have been exposed to COVID-19 now will receive priority, he said. Other priorities will be those who have respiratory illnesses, individuals over 60 with symptoms, with priority to nursing homes and senior centers, and individuals with underlying health conditions.

Blood drives canceled, walk-in donations canceled

Blood center moves to appointment-only schedule with longer open hours

Blood donors needed

Because of COVID-19 and the stay-at-home mandate, the Community Blood Center is canceling all blood drives through the end of April, and extending the open hours at its donor centers.

According to a spokesman, the CBC also is doing away with walk-in donations and all donations are now scheduled.

They are urging healthy donors to make appointments to help maintain the region’s blood supply at this critical time, the spokesman said.

Blood collection sites are disinfected frequently, and they are taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19 as per CDC recommendations, the spokesman stated.

CBC staff are also practicing health self-assessments prior to presenting at work, according to the spokesman. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms.

Beginning Monday, March 23, all seven of CBC’s donor centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday – Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday – Sunday.

Donors can schedule appointments by calling 1-877-468-6844 or visiting savealifenow.org/coronavirus.

To help donors travel to and from the donor centers, CBC is providing a letter to donors that indicates they are traveling in order to provide lifesaving blood products, the spokesman said. This letter will be sent to all donors with appointments and will also be available online at savealifenow.org/coronavirus. Police have stated they will not be stopping people only for being on the road.

In order to protect the staff, healthy blood donors and the community blood supply, individuals are instructed to avoid donor centers if they are experiencing a fever or other symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing), have had close contact with someone diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19 in the last 14 days, or been diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19 until 28 days after their illness has resolved. CBC does not test for COVID-19.

For more information, visit savealifenow.org/coronavirus.

COVID-19 prompts Kansas governor to ease rules for telemedicine and medical shipments

by Kansas News Service

Last week, Gov. Laura Kelly made her state’s children the first in the country sent home for the rest of the school year. This weekend, she took unilateral action to clear the way for more telemedicine, to temporarily license more health care workers and to let heavier trucks move on Kansas highways.

The orders, Kelly’s office said in a news release, “will make sure Kansas families can access needed care and supplies until we have weathered this storm.”

Governors in states where the COVID-19 coronavirus hit hardest and spread most quickly have taken even more drastic action. First, authorities in the Bay Area told residents to isolate themselves at home. Then California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered people throughout the state to stay at home except for the most essential tasks. New York and Illinois have taken similar measures.

And on Saturday, a range of local governments across the Kansas City area — on both the Kansas and Missouri sides — said that starting Tuesday residents would be under orders to isolate in their homes except for a handful of circumstances. Much the same rules will apply in Leavenworth County and Douglas County.

Kelly’s latest executive orders apply to regulations that have long sparked controversy.

In one order that lasts until at least May, she cleared the way for more telemedicine — typically when a physician consults with a patient by phone or video conference rather than face-to-face.

Kelly’s emergency action waives some existing rules to allow doctors, including those licensed in other states but not in Kansas, to prescribe drugs. Without that order, some treatments could only be ordered after in-person visits.

She also gave the state’s Board of Healing arts the power to grant temporary licenses to health care workers to help with the crush on hospitals and clinics expected if the spread of the virus continues to escalate.

As of Sunday afternoon, the state had 64 confirmed cases among Kansas residents, two more from non-residents in the state and one death each in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.

Her order did not apply to abortions. The state has seen political and legal battles over telemedicine abortions, where doctors use remote connections to guide patients taking the abortion pill.

The governor also took action she argued would speed the delivery of medical supplies to, and through, the state.

Public health officials across the country have been warning, with increasing alarm, about a coming shortage of the medical gear needed to deal with the pandemic. In particular, the country is running dangerously low on protective gear to protect medical professionals from contracting the new coronavirus.

Kelly’s action allows trucks to carry 10 percent above their licensed weight, up to 90,000 pounds, for the next two weeks. The shipping industry has long argued for higher weight limits to make its hauls more efficient. Critics say heavier trucks more easily damage highways and that heftier loads create more violent accidents.

The relaxed trucking rules only apply to shipments somehow related to reactions to the COVID-19 crisis.

“Expediting the transport of resources into the state will enable us to meet the increasing demand for medical supplies, groceries — and yes,” Kelly’s office said in a statement, “even toilet paper.”

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
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