As local hospitals begin to ramp up their operations, the blood supply must increase as well. Sporting Kansas City and Community Blood Center (CBC) are teaming up to hold a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, May 18, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
The blood drive will take place inside the Budweiser Brew House, located in the northeast corner of the stadium at the intersection of France Family Drive and Village West Parkway, and will be conducted in accordance with CBC protocols for social distancing and public health guidelines.
Donors are required to wear a mask throughout their donation and CBC staff will also be wearing masks while taking extra precautions to maintain safe and sanitary conditions.
Appointments are required to donate; walk-ins will not be accepted at this time. Healthy blood donors wishing to participate can make an appointment online at savealifenow.org/group and enter Group Code: CB8D or call 1-877-468-6844.
Appointments can also be made at other mobile drives in the area or one of CBC’s seven donor centers across Kansas and Missouri.
Monday’s blood drive is being held in response to the Community Blood Center’s urgent call for healthy blood donors. As the Kansas City region begins to reopen and hospitals anticipate the return of elective surgeries, the need for blood has rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels, however the blood supply is dangerously low.
“The blood supply is a critical part of our healthcare system. It is imperative for healthy individuals to come in and donate blood so that it’s available to those in need,” said Kim Peck, senior executive director of Community Blood Center. “At this unprecedented time, this is one thing you can do to help someone who desperately needs it. We have extended hours at our donor centers and we’re encouraging donors to schedule an appointment to visit one of these controlled, safe environments.”
The blood drive at Children’s Mercy Park is the latest initiative in conjunction with Sporting Serves, a newly established philanthropic platform in which Sporting Kansas City and the club’s flagship charitable arm, The Victory Project, are united with community partners to provide relief to citizens across the metropolitan area.
Sporting Serves has launched several programs specifically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including Sporting Community Kitchen to provide 1,000 free meals a day for families in need.
Kansas had 7,468 positive cases from 84 counties on Wednesday, an increase of 352 since Monday. There were 164 total deaths. (KDHE map) New COVID-19 cases statewide in blue, and total cases in yellow. (KDHE chart)
Two Lansing Correctional Facility staff deaths from COVID-19 were noted today by Kansas officials.
George Bernard Robare, an LCF officer who died from COVID-19, was always known to give more than his fair share during his 36 years at work and never left anything undone for the next shift to do, Gov. Laura Kelly said during a news conference Wednesday.
Officer Robare liked to work on cars, gardening, cross-stitch and bowling, she said. She sent her sympathy to the family.
Gov. Kelly also said there has been another death of a correctional officer at LCF, whose name will be announced later.
Kansas Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda said this is an extremely difficult time for the department and staff.
“Our entire organization is mourning the loss of two dedicated and respected members of our corrections family,” Zmuda said at the news conference. Together, they had more than five decades of service, he said, and were valued members of the corrections team.
He said he had seen the dedication and commitment of the staff to each other and to residents.
“This virus does not discriminate and has touched so many of us in our lives personally,” he said. “We are committed to doing everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our employees and everyone in our custody.”
During the pandemic, there has been a constant collaboration with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, he said. Early in the crisis, the state prisons had an inadequate number of masks, and produced its own cloth masks with the Kansas Correctional Industries program. Zmuda also said KDOC implemented a passive screening process, and later an active screening process. They suspended visitors in early April, he said. Staff at sites with positive cases were required to wear masks at all times, he said.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, said the state had 7,468 positive cases, an increase of 352 since Monday.
The Lansing Correctional Facility is one of 88 outbreaks the state is monitoring.
Forty of the outbreaks are considered closed, while 48 are active, he said. The outbreaks resulted in 3,500 cases and 116 deaths, he said.
• Thirty-six of the outbreaks are in private companies, with 329 cases and four deaths, he said. Nineteen are now closed. • Twenty-six are in long-term care facilities, with nine outbreaks closed, he said. They account for 593 cases and 95 deaths. • Nine outbreaks were in churches or other gatherings, with eight of the outbreaks now closed, accounting for 114 cases and nine deaths, he said. • There were eight outbreaks at meatpacking plants resulting in 1,536 cases and four deaths, he said. Included in that total was one plant in Missouri that affected Kansas. • There were three group living situations with 41 cases and no deaths, and two outbreaks now are closed. • Three correctional facilities, including LCF, with 864 cases and four deaths. • Three outbreaks with health care facilities, with 22 cases and zero deaths, and two outbreaks are closed.
Dr. Norman stated that Kansas on Tuesday received 10 cases of remdesivir, typically used for people who have COVID-19 and are in intensive care. It will be distributed throughout the state to greatest areas of need.
Also at the news conference, Kansas Labor Secretary Delia Garcia said her department has proposed guidelines for workers’ compensation for those workers with COVID-19 who put their lives on the line, including first responders.
The first regulation proposed by KDOL has been rejected by the state’s attorney general on the basis that it needs to be legislation, she said. The second regulation is awaiting a response, she added. If it becomes law, Kansas would join other states, including Missouri, to insure the safety of front-line workers by taking care of them. People have been pleading for this protection, she said.
“Front-line workers are already heroes but they should not be martyrs,” Garcia said.
Garcia said KDOL is now accepting applications from residents for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program at www.pua.getkansasbenefits.gov. This program, part of the CARES Act, is for people who are self-employed, or independent contractors, or employees of religious organizations, or those who lack significant work history, or those who exhausted their benefits. There were over 14,000 initial applications, she said. Payment of benefits is expected to begin by May 25.
If applicants are approved for the PUA program, they would receive $600 extra payments on top of their approved amounts, she said. Even if they go back to work, they would be paid the back payments, she added.
Garcia said the KDOL experienced some delays getting payments out because of a withdrawal cap of $70 million on its account. They are working with the bank to remove the cap, she added.
She noted April has had the highest number of unemployed persons in the nation since the Great Depression, at 14.7 percent. In Kansas, there were more than 236,000 initial claims from March 15 to May 9, she said. The KDOL has paid about $320 million total in unemployment payments.
The KDOL continues to work on solving problems such as the high call volume resulting in callers being kicked off hold. They are receiving 150,000 to 200,000 calls a day. They are working on a system to provide more capacity, she said.
A rolling average of COVID-19 cases in Wyandotte County. (Graph from Unified Government Health Department COVID-19 website) A rolling average of COVID-19 deaths in Wyandotte County. (Graph from UG Health Department COVID-19 website)
Local outbreaks
Some Wyandotte County outbreaks may no longer be active. The date of the last case may show whether they are still active or not, as it takes as long as two weeks for the disease to show symptoms after exposure.
• Riverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation facility, 7850 Freeman, 132 cases, 36 deaths, last case reported April 27.
• Miracle Temple Minister’s Conference, 2106 Quindaro Blvd., 55 cases, six deaths, last case reported April 8.
• Life Care Center of Kansas City, 3231 N. 61st, 42 cases, last case reported May 8; earlier, four deaths were reported at this location on May 5 and one death was reported there in March.
• National Beef Packaging, 100 Osage, 41 cases, last case reported May 12.
• Kellogg’s Bakery, 801 Sunshine Road, 20 cases, last case reported May 8.
• Delaware Highlands Assisted Living, 12600 Delaware Parkway, 18 cases, last case, April 24.
• El Torito Supermarket, 1409 Central Ave., 16 cases, last case reported May 5.
• Premier Custom Food, 756 Pawnee, 12 cases, last case reported May 11.
• Amazon distribution facility, 6925 Riverview, 8 cases, last case reported May 11.
• MWI Animal Health, 2450 Midpoint Drive, 6 cases, last case reported May 5.
• The Legacy Warehouse, a distribution warehouse for stores, 233 S. 42nd, 5 cases, last case reported May 8.
• Liberty Fruit Company, 1247 Argentine Blvd., 5 cases, last case reported May 4.
• House of Guadalupe Convent, 2226 Troup Ave., 10 cases, last case reported April 30.
• Donnelly College construction site, 608 N. 18th St., 8 cases, last case reported April 20.
• Rising Star Baptist Church, 1034 Walker Ave., 6 cases, last case, March 31.
In Wyandotte County, positive COVID-19 cases were reported at 1,090 at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday, with 66 deaths. It was an increase of seven cases and one more death since Tuesday morning. (From UG COVID-19 website)
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System today urged patients not to wait to get treatment for chronic or other conditions.
There have been reports of patients afraid to seek care for health conditions, such as heart attacks, and waiting too long to get treatment, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the KU Health System.
He said the hospital and the home are the safest places in the city now.
Numbers of positive COVID-19 patients at the hospital have declined since last week.
Positive COVID-19 patients at KU Health System today totaled 22, with 10 patients in the intensive care unit, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health Services. That is less than 30 or so seen last week.
In Wyandotte County, positive COVID-19 cases were reported at 1,090 at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday, with 66 deaths. It was an increase of seven cases and one more death since Tuesday morning. The number of hospitalizations was 35, an increase of one since Tuesday morning. The state of Kansas reported that Wyandotte County had 1,107 positive cases at midday Wednesday.
Kansas reported 7,468 total positive cases on Wednesday, an increase of 352 cases since Monday. There were 164 deaths reported statewide on Wednesday, an increase of six since Monday.
Dr. David Lisbon, emergency medicine physician at KU Health System, said originally there had been a decline in patients coming to the emergency room, but they are now seeing a bounceback.
Patient volume in the ER dropped almost 50 percent, he said, and he had never seen that level in 25 years or so. The numbers are starting to go back up now, and are around 120 a day as compared to the previous 180 to 190 a day, he added.
A drop in patient volume also was seen by Dr. Mary Champion, ophthalmologist, and by Dr. Mark Wiley, chair of cardiovascular medicine at KU Health Service.
They said patient numbers are starting to increase again.
Dr. Champion said it is important to get treatment to prevent vision loss. She said some patients were concerned about being in a waiting room around other patients, but procedures have changed so that the patients in her clinic now go directly from the front door to the examination room, she said. Everyone now is wearing masks in the clinic, she added. Patients’ temperature is taken and they have a questionnaire to answer.
Dr. Wiley said some patients may have put off appointments for cardiovascular care and are now starting to get back in. It’s something that can’t wait.
Dr. Lisbon said the ER had seen a number of cases of congestive heart failure, with some coming in later than they should have.
One patient who had COVID-19 was reluctant to come in to the hospital because of concerns about the hospital bill, but he eventually received treatment there, he said.
Dr. Hawkinson said the health system always has had an infection control program in place, and there is universal masking in place for health care workers and patients. Training is ongoing about personal protective equipment and proper hand hygiene, he said.
Screening is taking place by taking patients’ temperatures and answering questions as they come in.
Testing continues
Testing for COVID-19 continues today in Wyandotte County, with a free pop-up test scheduled from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the New Bethel Church and Forest Grove Baptist Church, 745 Walker Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
On Thursday, pop-up testing is 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.
