Category: COVID-19

Leaders with the Unified Government serving Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, unveiled a new online tool that will allow residents to self-report suspected cases of COVID-19.

“One of the most effective ways we can identify and slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community is through better testing and tracking,” Mayor David Alvey said in a news release. “This is the first tool of its kind in the Kansas City metropolitan region. It allows our residents to help us identify and locate people who may be exhibiting signs of COVID-19, so they can be tested and get the medical attention they need. It’s a much-needed way for us to track locations and symptoms and, ultimately, the extent of the spread of COVID-19 in Wyandotte County.”

The self-reporting tool, which is available in either English or Spanish-language versions, is available online at https://www.wycokck.org/COVID-19, a UG spokesman said.

When website visitors click on the link they enter an online form that takes their name and begins a simple quiz to help identify if the person is showing the symptoms associated with COVID-19 (fever in excess of 100.4° F, dry cough, shortness of breath). It does this by asking a series of simple questions, according to the UG spokesman.

Then the information is saved and sent to the Unified Government Public Health Department. People who need follow-up will be contacted by the Health Department directly, according to the spokesman.

“One of the biggest challenges we face in attempting to slow the spread of COVID-19 is locating people who may be exhibiting symptoms of the disease,” Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer with the Unified Government, said. “Through this new tool, the public can play an extremely important role by self-reporting if they feel they may be suffering from the symptoms of COVID-19. This is important in two ways – first, it helps us identify people showing the symptoms of COVID-19 and where necessary, test them. Second, this tool will help us capture critically important data about COVID-19 and where it’s spreading.”

Gathering data is an important point, according to Greiner.

“One of the biggest challenges in combatting COVID-19 is that it’s a new virus – we have very little data and information about how and where it spreads,” he said. “By capturing data about where new cases are identified, we can learn more about COVID-19 – and in this case, knowledge truly is power. The more we know about COVID-19, the more effectively we can slow its spread and protect the health and wellbeing of our residents.”

Greiner also said that all of the data gathered by the tool remains anonymous. For more information about this new tool and other actions the Unified Government is taking to slow the spread of COVID-19, visit www.wycokck.org/COVID-19.

The Unified Government has updated its order closing restaurants, taverns, bars, clubs, casinos and movie theaters in an effort to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19, according to a news release.

Now, church services, weddings and funerals are banned if they have more than 10 people.

Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer in Wyandotte County, has issued an updated order on the limiting of gatherings with more than 10 people.

“Emerging scientific evidence suggests that early rather than late measures to reduce social interactions by the public reduces the spread of COVID-19,” Dr. Greiner said in a news release. “Epidemiological studies from this year’s outbreak and prior pandemics indicate that the total number of cases and deaths can be reduced by closing venues where the public has prolonged close contact with each other. These measures are based on that important information.”

The updated order removes previous exceptions for religious and faith-based activities, weddings, and funerals, according to a spokesman.

Exceptions for delivery, pick-up, and drive-through food service remain. Exceptions for governmental and judicial functions, health care facilities, and private business operations also remain, the spokesman stated.

Public gatherings of more than 10 people are not allowed, according to the spokesman.

“We must be aggressive to combat the spread of COVID-19, or risk much greater rates of infection in the general population,” Mayor David Alvey said in the news release. “If we all commit to doing our part to limit transmission, then we should expect to return to normal much sooner. Time will tell how effective these measures will be, but these measures must be taken.”

The Unified Government will revisit the decision on April 1 with an evaluation of conditions at that time, according to the spokesman.

UG Commissioner Mike Kane, who was reached tonight, said he had received many phone calls lately about the local government shutting down various things, and that some people were in a panic mode, not knowing what’s going to happen in the future.

“We’re all concerned, all gravely concerned,” Commissioner Kane said.

“In a situation like this,” he said, “we should be worried about our citizens and what’s best to protect them. We need to do as much as possible to protect everyone.”

Also, he said, “We need as much professional equipment for public safety as possible, and we need it as soon as possible.” Public safety workers do not need to be bringing home an illness they received at work that could infect others at home, he said.

“I want everyone who works with us to be as safe as they possibly can be,” he said.

Everyone, he said, needs to take action to make sure they are not exposed to COVID-19.

Commissioner Kane also said he supported Gov. Laura Kelly’s actions, including closing school buildings, and said that “people will look back one day and say she did what she did to protect us.”

“In times like this we need to stand together and do what’s best for the community,” he said.

More information about the UG’s response to COVID-19 is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information