Category: Health

When it comes to the numbers that are seen in the daily counts on the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage, they are confirmed after being reported to the Health Department.

Occasionally the Wyandotte Daily’s readers comment on the numbers of cases, and some readers are in apparent disbelief. The Wyandotte County numbers on the state KDHE and Wyandotte County websites are different, as one is a total of confirmed and probable cases, while the other is confirmed cases only.

In answer to a question about why the Wyandotte County numbers on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment website are different from the numbers on the UG’s COVID-19 website, Janell Friesen, spokesman for the UG Health Department, asked the Health Department’s chief epidemiologist, and responded:

“We track both confirmed cases and ‘probable’ cases of COVID-19. Our confirmed and probable cases are listed separately on our Hub, and on the KDHE site they combine the confirmed and probable cases together,” Friesen wrote.

“Additionally, when cases are reported to us, our staff go through and confirm that they live in Wyandotte County before including the case in our numbers. From time to time, a case that had been initially reported as a Wyandotte case turns out to be in another county, so we will not include that in our county numbers.”

Friesen also was asked about whether there was a delay in the reports of deaths, as one reader had maintained. Her response:

“There can be some delay. Here is what our chief epidemiologist shared about what that process looks like after a death due to COVID-19:

“The doctor who pronounces the death signs a death certificate with causes of death. In order for it to be counted as a COVID death, the death certificate must have COVID as either the primary cause of death or a contributing factor.

“The death certificate is then filed with the state, who then reports to us it is a COVID death. This all takes time.

“Sometimes, the hospital will directly report to us they had a COVID death, but sometimes we have to wait for the above process to happen.”

On Saturday afternoon, the Wyandotte County COVID-19 webpage reported 85 more COVID-19 cases than Friday afternoon, with a cumulative total of 5,222. There were no increases in deaths since Friday, with the cumulative number remaining at 107.

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.

More details and graphs about COVID-19 in Wyandotte County are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/.

The UG Health Department sports order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/08132020localhealthofficerorderregardingsports.pdf.

For more information on who may be tested and what to bring, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.

The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, spoke Saturday with local health officials and Gov. Laura Kelly about what more needs to be done in the state to halt the spread of the virus.

by Jodi Fortino, Kansas News Service

White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx says Kansas is at a turning point to get the state’s positivity rate under control.

Birx traveled to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, as a part of a multi-state tour to talk with governors and health officials about local efforts to combat COVID-19.

She said the state, specifically Wyandotte, Johnson and Douglas counties, is seeing a spike in community spread of the virus. The state is currently resting at a 9.9 percent test positivity rate, putting it just underneath the red zone of cases.

“Now is the moment for every Kansas to do these common-sense things. I know they may be inconvenient, but they are common sense. We all can do this together and prevent this spread,” said Birx.

Gov. Kelly issued a statewide order last month requiring face masks to be worn in public, but many counties opted out of the mandate. But with cases on the rise across Kansas, Dr. Birx emphasized the importance of wearing a mask in both indoor and outdoor public places.

She also recommended avoiding bars, indoor dining, and group gatherings.

“You can’t tell who’s infected any longer. The spread is asymptomatic. I know we all want to believe our family members are not positive, but they are,” said Birx.

Southern states following these guidelines have been successful in lowering their high positivity rates, according to Birx.

Birx says Kansas needs to focus on minimizing the spread of the virus in rural communities, so it doesn’t see a similar outbreak to the ones in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.

“The level of asymptomatic spread that occurred before people started to be hospitalized was so widespread, and the hospitals in these rural communities quickly were full. That’s what we’re trying to prevent here in the Heartland,” said Birx.

As schools prepare to reopen across the state, Birx says counties with fewer cases should be used as a guide on how to reopen safely.

Birx says getting the number of cases under control in the state is the key for teachers and students to be able to return to classes.

“I don’t think right now most of the spread that you’re seeing is happening in the school. It’s people being infected in the community and bringing it into the school and infecting other children,” says Birx. “We can get everyone back to school if we stop this community spread.”

She also met with university leaders and says they talked about the use of laboratory equipment to test students as they go back to campus.

Birx says being able to test 10,000 samples a day puts schools in the range of being able to do routine surveillance on campuses to find the asymptomatic spread before it reaches the community.

With the football season beginning next month, Birx also had a message for Chiefs fans wanting to watch their team at the stadium.

“If you want to have fans in the stands, get your case rates down,” said Birx.

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.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-08-15/white-house-task-force-says-now-is-the-moment-for-kansas-to-stop-covid-19-spread