The public Parkwood Park swimming pool and three public spray parks in Wyandotte County will be closed this summer.
Emerick Cross, Unified Government assistant county administrator, said at the Thursday, May 14, Unified Government Commission meeting that after consulting with the Wyandotte County chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Greiner, it was decided to close the pool and spray parks for this season.
Cross noted that some other pools and spray parks in the metropolitan area also have been closed. Bonner Springs has closed its aquatic center, he said. The Turner Aquatics Center is closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, also.
A recreational subcommittee met and created guidelines for sports and recreation, Cross said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility of a second wave of the virus, he said local officials felt that social distancing would be too difficult at swimming pools, as kids often play water tag and other games that result in a lot of contact with each other.
Two UG commissioners, a representative of the Parks and Recreation Department and Cross met to discuss the issues last Friday, he said.
“I wanted the community to know that this decision was not taken in a vacuum, and that our paramount concern always, every summer, and continues to be the safety of the kids, families and staff,” Commissioner Gayle Townsend said at the May 14 UG meeting. She was one of the commissioners meeting with the group.
She said she looked forward every summer to going to the Parkwood pool, and she often saw a lot of contact among kids. She didn’t believe there was any way they could enforce social distancing or ask the lifeguards to do that.
“With this approach, not one person is going to become ill from this dreadful virus because we elected to open the pool,” Commissioner Townsend said. “I know this is a hardship for a lot of people. We are going to come through this safely.”
Cross said that the UG was trying to get lifeguards to apply for open positions before COVID-19 hit, but no applications had been turned in to that point. It takes four to six weeks to train lifeguards to rescue children, he said, and they usually meet with the Kansas City, Kansas, school district to use their pools to train lifeguards. The schools were closed, and there was nowhere for the lifeguards to train, he added.
Commissioner Townsend said for the past few years, they have been trying to increase the number of kids who become lifeguards. They need about 10 to 14 lifeguards a year, she said.
Timing is also a factor, she said. Last year, she said, the school district opened its fall semester Aug 8, and many of the lifeguards had to go back to school. A lack of lifeguards is a nonstarter for safety reasons, she said.
Comm. Townsend said she would continue to advocate for a pipeline for local lifeguards and providing training for local kids. She said they are looking at this positively going forward, “to increase the number of lifeguards and to outlast this dreadful virus.”
The Unified Government Commission tonight approved the extension of the local health emergency order for COVID-19 from May 18 through July 17 in Wyandotte County.
The commission took a 10-0 vote, approving the extension of an order that expires on May 18.
UG Administrator Doug Bach said the order will give the UG emergency powers, and will allow the UG to seek reimbursement from the federal and state governments.
The original emergency declaration was on March 13 for seven days, then on March 19 was extended 60 days until May 18. According to UG officials, the declaration will avoid any kind of gap between emergency declarations that could affect federal or state reimbursements.
More than a million dollars approved to fight COVID-19
The UG Commission also approved, without discussion on a consent agenda vote, funding of $952,700 for the UG Health and Emergency Management departments to fight COVID-19. According to the agenda, FEMA could cover 85 percent of the costs.
Another request for general operating expenses year-to-date to fight COVID-19 totals $292,375.
According to agenda information, $201,500 will go for testing; $260,000 for personal protective equipment; $57,600 for contact tracing; $80,000 for project management; $57,600 for the COVID call line; and $296,000 for communications.
From the $292,375 general operating expenditure to fight COVID-19, $92,096 will go to the Fire Department for personal protective gear; $52,642 to community programs for defogger machines and personal protective equipment; $50,000 to the Health Department for COVID-19 testing; $35,110 to the Police Department for employee protective measures; $25,850 to the Sheriff’s Department for testing and personal protective equipment; $14,200 to Emergency Management for personal protective gear; $10,000 to the District Attorney’s office for remote office setup; $3,600 to the Municipal Court for remote office setup; $2,909 to General Services for remove office setup; $2,610 to Community Corrections for remote office setup; $1,949 to Public Works for deep clean for work areas; and $1,409 to Human Resources for remote office setup.
When will the UG move into the next phase of the ReStart WyCo plan?
The UG is not in the position to announce a date yet for the transition from the “red zone” to the “yellow zone,” according to Bach. Earlier, health officials said the “red zone,” which started May 11, would be at least a full two weeks. It would be at least through May 25.
Juliann Van Liew, new director of the UG Health Department, said Wyandotte County’s rate of positive cases and deaths per 100,000 is still higher than surrounding areas. Wyandotte County’s rate is 674.55 per 100,000, compared to the Kansas City, Missouri, rate of 163.89, the Johnson County rate of 104.53 and the state of Kansas rate of 244.64.
Kansas numbers statewide continue to climb, she said. The governor has decided to move to “phase 1.5” today instead of the second phase, she noted.
Wyandotte County’s 14-day rolling average for new cases appears to have reached a sort of plateau, she said, although they are staying cautious. They are also seeing a little delay on test results, having changed to a KU lab, and the UG Health Department is now two to three days behind on their data, she said.
Wyandotte County is seeing a downward trend on rolling averages of deaths, she said, which is a good sign. The cases they are seeing now are largely linked to workplaces and outbreaks, with a significantly younger population affected, and a lower number of deaths, she said.
The Health Department also is tracking a positivity rate, she said, comparing positive cases to the total number of tests, and it appears that there is a slight downward trend. She said they are “cautiously optimistic.”
They are doing more testing of asymptomatic people, she added, such as people who were exposed to a positive case, and that can bring the positivity rate down if the person tests negative.
During the last two weeks, Vibrant Health has offered pop-up sites through the community, and the positivity rate is going down as a result.
Besides testing at Vibrant Health and Swope Health, the Health Department has held a testing site in its parking lot each afternoon. In addition, Dr. Sharon Lee Family Health Clinic has held testing. Heart-to-Heart International will be starting to test. Bonner Springs Walmart and the Parallel Walmart in Kansas City, Kansas, are planning drive-through testing three times a week starting Friday morning.
Dr. Erin Corriveau, Wyandotte County deputy health officer, said the decision on moving to another zone would be made by Thursday, May 21.
“We may have to pump the brakes and stay in the ‘red zone’ for longer, or even stay there for an extended period of time,” Dr. Corriveau said.
The Health Department is getting a lot of questions about hair salons and barbershops, which aren’t supposed to open until the “yellow zone,” she said.
Dr. Corriveau said the Health Department has just received thousands of masks from a donor, and will be able to distribute the masks shortly.
Dr. Allen Greiner, Wyandotte County chief medical officer, said decisions to change zones will be weighed over the full 14-day period.
The goal is to see a decrease in hospitalizations and deaths in Wyandotte County and surrounding area hospitals over a 14-day period, he said. Also, the Health Department will be watching the percentage positive rate of testing in Wyandotte County and the surrounding area for a 14-day period.
Dr. Greiner said Heart-to-Heart International is launching community testing across the metropolitan area and will include Wyandotte County. He said they will test as many asymptomatic persons as possible, probably leading to more negative tests to drive the rate down. It will also lead to more positive cases, that will then result in more contact tracing, he said.
Rapid testing, capacity at health care facilities and capacity to contact trace are required.
“Testing goes hand in hand with contact tracing. The value of the testing is only there if you’ve got the ability to follow up with those people, find out who they’ve been around,” he said. The Health Department will call people who are positive, get them to quarantine, find out who they have had contact with, call them and get people to quarantine for 14 days.
Dr. Greiner said the goal is to have 10 percent testing by mid-July. There may be a need for cycles of retesting, such as in long-term care facilities, he said.
New UG Health Department director named
Bach tonight announced the appointment of Juliann Van Liew, who manages operations in the Health Department, as the new director of the UG Health Department. Terrie Garrison had served as interim director.
Van Liew has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and political science from Drake University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. In the past she has managed performance and quality improvement for visiting nurse agencies and a safety net health care clinic.
During the past two years, Van Liew has worked at the UG Health Department with quality improvement, performance management, workforce development and accreditation, also working with members of the community to implement a Community Health Improvement Plan to address health access issues, jobs and education, safe and affordable housing and violence prevention, according to information from the UG.
Wyandotte County is currently in the “red zone” until May 25, and a decision has not yet been made on whether it will move into the next stage. (Graphic from UG Health Department)
The Unified Government Health Department reported 23 more cases Thursday at 1:30 p.m., compared to Wednesday morning, with no new deaths and the same number of hospitalizations. (UG COVID-19 website)
COVID-19 case numbers were not increasing as much on Thursday, May 14, in Wyandotte County as previously.
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System news conference were asked on Thursday why the COVID-19 virus is still spreading after people have been at home for more than a month.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the KU Health System, said people have still been moving around. Some of them went to work, he said.
It doesn’t take much for one person to get the virus, then spread it when they didn’t know they had it, Dr. Hawkinson said. COVID-19 is capable of being spread a few days before symptoms show up. It is very efficient in spreading from one person to another, he added.
Dr. Raghu Adiga from Liberty Hospital, who participated in the Thursday news conference from KU Health System, said it is a highly transmissible virus and doesn’t take much to spread.
He said some of the other areas of the world had stricter social distancing, including Wuhan, and stopped the virus’ spread for a while. The stricter lockdown approach was not practical in many areas of the world, including the United States, he added. Eventually, society has to stop social distancing, and it is possible to see new cases.
Dr. Mark Steele from Truman Medical Centers – University Health said social distancing isn’t perfect and not everyone is practicing it, which allows this infection to occur.
According to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, COVID-19 only needs one person to spread it. A complete lockdown of society isn’t practical, and personal responsibility in following health guidelines plus a vaccine and treatment are important. As society reopens, how people act will define them for the future.
The doctors also discussed the Kansas City, Missouri, reopening plan, which allows restaurants to open on May 15. Wyandotte County restaurants are under a “carryout” or “curbside” service only during the “red zone,” without any dine-in service.
Dr. Steele said he would be very aware of the numbers of people in the building, the establishment and social distancing. He would like to see employees wearing a mask, and he would wear a mask as much as he could, except when eating his food.
Dr. Hawkinson said he has always been a proponent of contact tracing, and lists of customers and their contact information is a part of the Kansas City, Missouri, plan. As other areas have opened up, there has been a greater chance of the virus spreading.
He said he thought that dining outdoors, where people are more spread out, would be safer, as well as wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer right before eating. It is still safer to order takeout food and dine at home.
Dr. Stites said he would feel safer if there weren’t very many people in the restaurant, the employees were wearing masks and people were using hand sanitizer. There will be a calculated risk in going back out. He said he is optimistic, in general.
Dr. Larry Botts of Advent Shawnee Mission Health System said restaurants will have tables and seats spaced at least 6 feet apart in Johnson County. He said he was optimistic and looking forward to being able to go out. Dining outside will be an advantage, he added.
Dr. Hawkinson said there were 21 COVID-19 patients at KU Health System on Thursday, one less than Wednesday, with nine of the patients in the intensive care unit. The number of COVID-19 patients has been declining this week at KU Health System. There have been a number of discharges.
Other hospitals participating in the news conference reported fewer cases.
Wyandotte County reported 1,113 positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday morning, with 66 deaths and 35 hospitalizations, according to the Unified Government Health Department COVID-19 webpage. There were 23 more cases reported compared to Wednesday, with no new deaths and the same number of hospitalizations as the previous day.
Johnson County reported 619 positive cases on Thursday, according to the Johnson County Health Department website. The number of deaths was unchanged at 54.
Leavenworth County reported 950 positive cases at 5 p.m. Wednesday, an increase of 11 community cases. The Leavenworth County Health Department reported 169 community cases, 42 cases at the Grossman Center and 739 cases at Lansing Correctional Facility. There have been six deaths.
Testing continues today
Testing for COVID-19 continues today in Wyandotte County, with a free pop-up test scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. at Cross-Lines Community Outreach, 736 Shawnee Ave.
Also on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., testing will be at La Fe en Jesu Cristo, 1500 Central Ave., Swope Health.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, pop-up testing is scheduled at Zotung Christian Church, 5041 State Ave.
