Category: Health

Kansas currently has 145 active outbreaks of COVID-19, according to information from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Since cases have been recorded here, the state has had a total of 370 outbreaks accounting for 7,853 cases and 247 deaths, according to KDHE statistics.

Meat packing plants had the highest number of cases in Kansas, with 3,276 cases and 17 deaths. There are 9 active meat packing outbreaks currently in Kansas.

Also high on the list were long-term care facilities, with 1,377 cases and 196 deaths statewide, according to KDHE figures. This is the category that had the most deaths.

Sports outbreaks are now listed, with 9 clusters reported in the state, including 3 active now, accounting for 64 cases.

Day cares and schools have had 15 clusters in the state, including 5 active clusters, accounting for 63 cases, according to KDHE.

Gatherings have resulted in 59 clusters in the state, including 21 active, which accounted for 653 cases and 17 deaths, according to KDHE statistics.

Private business has 143 clusters in the state, including 47 active, that accounted for 1,080 cases and 7 deaths, according to KDHE.

Several Wyandotte County outbreaks reported

The Unified Government’s outbreak location map, located on the UG’s COVID-19 website, shows several locations for COVID-19 outbreaks in Wyandotte County. This map included places that had five or more cases.

The locations include workplaces, meat packing plants and long-term care facilities.

Outbreaks from June and earlier that are not active now were not included in this list. Outbreaks on the UG COVID-19 map here since July include:

• National Beef Packaging, 100 Osage Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, 53 cases, last known case reported July 21.

• Bonner Springs Nursing and Rehab, 520 E. Morse Ave., Bonner Springs, long-term care facility, 47 cases, 5 deaths, last known case reported July 18.

• Medicalodge of Kansas City, 6500 Greeley, Kansas City, Kansas, long-term care facility, 20 cases, last known case reported July 20.

• Tyson, 4612 Speaker Road, Kansas City, Kansas, 6 cases, last known case reported July 21.

• Ignite Medical Resorts, 3910 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, Kansas, long-term care facility, 17 cases, last known case reported July 23.

• Smithfield-Capstone Logistics, 2441 S. 98th St., Edwardsville, 15 cases, last known case reported July 16.

• Plastic Packaging Technologies, 750 S. 65th St., Kansas City ,Kansas, 5 cases, last known case reported July 15.

• Edwardsville Care and Rehab, 750 Blake St., Edwardsville, Kansas, long-term care facility, 5 cases, last known case reported July 6.

• Nebraska Furniture Mart, 1601 Village West Parkway, 6 cases, last known case reported July 16.

New COVID-19 case reported in Larned facility

Corrections, according to the state, had nine clusters, with six of them now active, that accounted for 1,054 cases and six deaths.

On Friday, the Kansas Department of Corrections announced that one staff member at the Larned, Kansas, Correctional Mental Health Facility has tested positive for COVID-19.

The person is a woman over age 40, according to the statement. The Larned facility has 598 beds.

Wyandotte County reported 55 new COVID-19 cases from Friday to Saturday, with a cumulative total of 4,864, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 website. There were no new deaths; the cumulative total is 99 in Wyandotte County.

Kansas reported an increase of 921 COVID-19 cases from Wednesday to Friday, according to figures from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There were 12 more deaths from Wednesday to Friday. The total cumulative number of positive cases was 30,638 on Friday, and the total cumulative deaths were 380 in the state.

Johnson County reported 5,637 cases on Friday, as compared to 5,434 cases on Wednesday, an increase of 203 cases, according to KDHE statistics.

Leavenworth County reported 1,487 cases on Friday, compared to 1,472 on Wednesday, an increase of 15 cases, according to KDHE figures.

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.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

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

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

Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System said Friday morning that wearing a mask is not telling you what to do or taking away your rights.

Rather, mask-wearing is a sign you’re trying to protect the community and yourself, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer of KU Health System.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health System, said studies have shown that countries with mask mandates have safely opened society and their schools.

The doctors also stated, in answer to a question, that COVID-19 is not the flu. There are many more deaths with COVID-19 as there have been in the flu season, according to the doctors. (See https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu for more information about the number of deaths with COVID-19 as compared to the flu) Also, there is a flu vaccination and treatment for the flu, but none for this virus.

The KU doctors also answered many other questions during the program on Friday morning.

On Friday morning, KU Health System had 25 COVID-19 patients, the same as Thursday. Twelve were in the intensive care unit, up from 11 on Thursday, and eight were on ventilators, an increase from six on Thursday. There were more discharges than admissions, according to doctors. There are also a lot of newly diagnosed patients admitted daily, they said.

In Wyandotte County, COVID-19 cumulative cases were 4,809 on Friday afternoon, an increase of 69 since Thursday, according to the UG COVID-19 webpage. There were a total cumulative 99 deaths, an increase of one death since Thursday.

The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1032137773911398at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/672481063355122.

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

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.

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

The Wyandotte County population has been hard hit by COVID-19, both by the illness and also by unemployment that resulted from efforts to reduce its spread.

Unemployment has affected part of the population here, which may have avoided testing and treatment at clinics because they have lost their insurance when they lost their employment, according to Patrick Sallee, CEO of Vibrant Health.

He spoke during a news conference on Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System.

Unemployment was 3.8 percent in March in Wyandotte County, then it jumped to 14 percent by May, declining to 10.3 percent currently, according to Sallee.

COVID-19 has resulted in 25 percent fewer patients at Vibrant Health, he said, resulting in a loss of $1.7 million in patient revenue and also a loss in fundraising.

With the high unemployment is a loss of insurance among patients served by Vibrant Health, Sallee said. Forty-five percent of those seeking treatment at Vibrant Health, a clinic for the medically underserved, are uninsured, he said.

According to Sallee, anxiety levels, depression and stress levels are high, and he said many people are avoiding COVID-19 testing because they may not be able to afford to pay for the care required after a positive test.

Vibrant Health is offering pop-up tests at various sites in the community in conjunction with the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force and the Unified Government Health Department.

The tests here have a 30 percent positive rate compared to the 7 to 9 percent rate seen at KU Health System, according to Sallee.

He also has noticed the trend of patients delaying care during the pandemic, resulting in more serious conditions when they come in for treatment.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health System, said there were 25 COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning at KU Health System, down from 26 on Wednesday. Last week there was a peak of 36 COVID-19 patients at the hospital. Eleven patients are in the intensive care unit, up from five on Wednesday and six were on ventilators, an increase from three on Wednesday.

Wyandotte County reported a cumulative total of 4,740 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, an increase of 67 cases since Wednesday, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative total 98 deaths, an increase of two deaths since Wednesday.

Free testing offered

Free testing is offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call 311.

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 KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/672481063355122.

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

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.

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