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Masks still necessary, even with case numbers improving, doctors say

COVID-19 case numbers continue to be lower in the Kansas City area and in Wyandotte County, and doctors credited mask-wearing and vaccines for the improvement.

Amanda Cackler, director of quality and safety at KU Health System, said the hospital hasn’t seen an inpatient COVID-19 death since Feb. 24.

A new study in Israel reported there was a 70 percent reduction in ventilator use for COVID-19 cases since the vaccine rollout, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control.

The number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has dropped over the past few months, which makes it feel much more manageable to doctors, according to Dr. Steven Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System.

But COVID-19 is still the single largest admitting diagnosis for people entering the hospital, according to Dr. Stites.

Cackler said for a long period of time, there haven’t been any flu or RSV positive cases in the hospital, both inpatients and outpatients.

“Vaccination for COVID does not protect against RSV. Clearly, the influenza vaccination protects against influenza,” Dr. Stites said. “But to have nothing at this time of year, there’s only one reason: It’s because you out there are doing a great job with your masking, distancing, hand washing, coughing into your elbow and not going out if you’re ill. Keep up the good work.”

Regardless of what’s being said by some, Dr. Stites said masks work and people still should be masked.

“It really suggests perhaps the behavior shouldn’t end, even with vaccination coming, as it relates to other diseases,” Cackler said.

Dr. Stites said viral illnesses start a little inflammation, which can cause other problems. He has seen COPD, asthma and emphysema triggered by forms of viral illness. If people don’t get a virus, they don’t see as many of these other complications, according to Dr. Stites. Those numbers for asthma and COPD are currently down, also, he said.

“There’s only one reason for that – infection control,” Dr. Stites said.

“We’re not saying you have to wear a mask 365 days a year once we have COVID conquered,” Dr. Stites said. “But there is something to that.”

Vulnerable people who may have asthma, COPD or heart failure might want to examine the idea of wearing masks more, according to Dr. Stites.

Recently there has been a 90 percent drop in new COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City area compared to about a month ago.

Cackler said she is concerned people are overly confident that they’re over the hump and will go back to normal life.

“We have to be extremely cautious,” she said. COVID-19 hasn’t been eliminated yet.

Masking and distancing need to continue, she said. If people can make it through the new few months with more vaccine distribution, then they can think about changing behaviors and returning to whatever the new normal will be, she said.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson said he is concerned about variants. There is some information that the B117 variant from the UK is more transmissible with a higher death rate, and that is still being studied, he said. In Houston, they’ve identified all those variants but are loosening restrictions, he added.

With variants present in the United States, and with the possibility of travel picking up in the spring and summer, the doctors are concerned. More than 25 states are reporting rising COVID-19 case numbers currently.

Dr. Stites said, “This game’s close, you’re late in the third quarter. Don’t fumble the ball at the 10-yard line.”

On July 1, when a lot more people are vaccinated, then they should have another conversation, he said.

Cackler said the CDC’s guidance on gatherings, masking and distancing hasn’t changed yet, and the health system doesn’t have any change in its recommendations. Masks and social distancing are still recommended.

She added that the health system has received a lot of calls from people wanting guidance about events they are planning later this year.

“We don’t have that crystal ball to know exactly what events will look like in April or September, so we just have to keep the course,” Cackler said.

When asked if a group of four people, all who had vaccinations, could gather together and take their masks off, Cackler said she personally is not doing that.

If they’re not her household contacts, she is still distancing and masking, she said. While it is great news that transmission may be reduced as much as 70 percent by the vaccine, it still isn’t zero and people may not take into account that others have vulnerable conditions, according to Cackler.

“The transmission can still happen,” Cackler said, “so I think we just have to be extremely cautious. We need to wait and see a little bit more.”

“You may give asymptomatic transmission to someone else who’s been vaccinated, but that person could give it to someone else who’s not been vaccinated,” Dr. Stites said.

Dr. Hawkinson said he expected new guidance on these questions to come soon from the CDC.

COVID-19 case numbers reported

The total number of COVID-19 active and recovering COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System was 46 on Friday, an increase of two from Thursday, according to Dr. Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. There were 15 active COVID-19 patients in the hospital, an increase of one since Thursday. Three of those patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Thursday. One of those was on a ventilator, no change since Thursday. There were another 31 patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 who were out of the acute phase, an increase of one since Thursday..

Wyandotte County reported an increase of 12 COVID-19 case on Friday, March 5, for a cumulative 17,736 cases. There was a cumulative total of 273 deaths reported, no change since Thursday.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 160,905 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Friday. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 85. Cumulative deaths in the nine-county area were 2,230.

The state of Kansas reported 295,861 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Friday, March 5, an increase of 752 cases since Wednesday. There were a total cumulative 4,812 deaths, a decrease of four since Wednesday, KDHE figures. The KDHE stated that the decrease in deaths was attributed to a review of death certificates. Some deaths originally reported as COVID-19 were determined during the review as not having had COVID-19 as the main cause or contributing cause of death, according to the KDHE>

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Friday night reported 28,894,784 cases in the United States, with 522,874 total deaths nationwide.

COVID-19 tests scheduled Saturday

The Pierson Community Center COVID-19 testing site at 831 S. 55th is open at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 6. Tests are through WellHealth. Appointments are required, check with the website, www.gogettested.com/Kansas, for available appointment times.

Another COVID-19 testing site will be at Lowe’s, 6920 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday. Tests are through WellHealth. Appointments are required, check with the website, www.gogettested.com/Kansas, for available appointment times.

Unified Government COVID-19 testing and vaccine sites are scheduled to be open on Monday, March 8. The Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 test site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State will be open Monday, March 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Appointments are not needed for COVID-19 tests there on Monday. There is also another UG Health Department location for COVID-19 testing at the former Best Buy store, 10500 Parallel Parkway. More information is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. To see if there is any change to the schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

The Health Department is offering saliva COVID-19 tests to the public. Tests from the Health Department are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County.

The tests are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.

Walk-in vaccines available for those 85 and older

The UG Health Department is offering COVID-19 vaccines Monday through Friday for Wyandotte County residents who are over 65.

Those Wyandotte County residents who are 85 or older can walk in and do not need an appointment at the vaccination sites at 7836 State Ave. and 10500 Parallel Parkway. The sites are open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Those who are 65 and older, as well as critical workers, still need appointments for vaccines.

All those 65 and older should bring an ID or other proof of age, such as driver’s license, government ID or birth certificate, as well as something showing their Wyandotte County address, such as an ID or a piece of mail.

For more vaccine information, and to fill out a form expressing interest in getting a vaccine, visit WycoVaccines.org or call 3-1-1.

Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.

Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/182849756687345.

The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/patient-visitor/covid19-update.

A weekly vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.

Cards and letters of encouragement for caregivers at KU Health System may be sent to Share Joy, care of Patient Relations, 4000 Cambridge St., Mailstop 1021, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160. Emails can be sent to [email protected].

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask and social distancing order.

The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.

Post-Civil War photo negatives document African- American Exodusters building new lives in Leavenworth

In the turbulent years following the Civil War, around 27,000 former slaves migrated to Kansas. They called themselves “exodusters” and they were fleeing Jim Crow laws. Some of them are remembered in a portrait exhibition of an African-American community in Leavenworth, Kansas.

by Julie Denesha, KCUR and Kansas News Service

Photographer E.E. Henry’s portrait of Samuel Green, 1880 and an unknown photographer’s portrait of Geraldine Jones, 1870s-1900s. Glass plate negatives photographed in Leavenworth, Kansas, from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.

Unknown photographer’s portrait of James Turner circa 1895 and photographer Harrison Putney’s portrait of Private Paul Schrader of Ottawa, Kansas, and three soldiers from the 23rd Volunteer Infantry circa 1895-1899. Glass plate negatives photographed in Leavenworth, Kansas, from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.

Unknown photographer’s portrait of H. Hopkins children and an unknown photographer’s portrait of Thomas Meadows circa 1890. Glass plate negatives photographed in Leavenworth, Kansas, from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.

Photographer’s studios lined Delaware Street, in the early days of Leavenworth, Kansas. Everyday people rushed to take advantage of the new technology that could produce an image within minutes. This enlargement of a negative from the Everhard collection shows the studios of Jay Noble and E.E. Henry.

Photo studios were busy places in Leavenworth, Kansas, in the late 1870s. Thousands of everyday people flocked to have their pictures taken.

Today, some of those pictures have re-emerged — and they tell a story of an African-American community that took root in the town as Black families migrated to escape the Jim Crow south.

An exhibit on display at the Black Archives Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, features a series of black-and-white portraits that have survived more than a century. (https://www.stjosephmuseum.org/black-archives-museum)

An older man and woman are decked out in their Sunday best. A quartet of soldiers poses in front of a woodsy backdrop. A young woman in a black hat looks boldly into the camera lens. All of the subjects are African-American.

Jade Powers is assistant curator of art at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. She takes a special interest in highlighting artists and subjects underrepresented in museum collections. (Photo by Julie Denesha)

Jade Powers, assistant curator of art at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, wasn’t involved in the creation of the exhibit, but she takes a special interest in highlighting artists and subjects underrepresented in museum collections.

“So often, the portrayals before were not maybe how African-Americans saw themselves or they were very political in a negative way to keep, you know, a certain status quo. And so with these images, it’s so exciting,” Powers said.

“I mean, you’re looking at couples, you’re looking at soldiers. It just really expands on the history of America.”

In the turbulent years following the Civil War, around 27,000 former slaves migrated to the land of John Brown. They called themselves “Exodusters” and they were refugees from Jim Crow laws and lynch mobs. Their journey came to be known as the “Great Exodus.”

“There seems to be a real interest from Black and Brown artists, to really look at historical figures and reimagine them or be able to uplift them in different ways,” Powers said. “I am not a practicing artist, but I imagine someone could have a field day with stories of these people taken from this historical narrative.”

Volunteer Mary Ann Brown, left, and Samantha Poirier, director of the Leavenworth County Historical Society, flipped through enlargements from negatives saved by Mary Everhard at the Carroll Mansion Museum. (Photo by Julie Denesha)

The photos would never have come to the public eye if not for the persistence of Mary Everhard, a photographer who moved to Leavenworth in the 1920s.

Everhard had a keen interest in history. As older photographers closed their doors, she bought up their archives.

Eventually, her collection took up an entire room, floor to ceiling, 40,000 negatives in all. Everhard guarded them for years, through two tornadoes, a flood and a fire.

“It’s such an incredible story,” said Mary Ann Brown, a volunteer at the Leavenworth County Historical Society “It’s hard to know even where to start with Miss Everhard.”

Brown is part of a team that’s been scanning Everhard’s negatives since 1998. She considers Everhard a folk hero — the woman who preserved decades of early Leavenworth history. But people didn’t always appreciate Everhard’s efforts.

Mary Ellen Everhard studied photography in New York City before moving to the Midwest in the 1920s to set up a studio in Leavenworth, Kansas. (Photo from Leavenworth County Historical Society)

“When she decided to retire, she went to the local banker and she wanted to know what she could get for these negatives,” Brown said. “And he said, Miss Everhard, you might as well just throw these in the Missouri River. They’re not worth anything.”

Thankfully, the negatives escaped a watery grave. A collector from Chicago purchased them in 1967. He sold off parts of the collection to different museums.

One of them was The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. Today the Carter keeps around 6,000 of Everhard’s negatives in temperature-controlled vaults. The portraits on display at St. Joseph’s Black Archives Museum come from that collection.

“Even though photography is often talked about as one of the more democratic art forms, that still took a certain amount of money and a certain amount of access and standing to have an image taken,” said Kristen Gaylord, the museum’s assistant curator of photographs.

“A lot of Black Americans didn’t have that right away after the end of slavery,” she noted. “So especially the 19th Century images, I would say, are unusual, which is why they’re so valuable to us.”

Gaylord sees Mary Everhard as a woman ahead of her time.

“Not only was she a successful female photographer at the time, but she’s also the one who saw the need to conserve all these negatives,” she said.

The Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California, also acquired a portion of the Everhard collection. In the late 1990s, the Leavenworth County Historical Society raised the funds to purchase 25,000 negatives from the Autry and return some of the images to the city where they started. They form the heart of the historical society’s photography collection — the one that Brown and fellow volunteers have been working on for years.

Thanks to Mary Everhard, the Chicago collector and those volunteers, the images that could have landed in the Missouri River now tell a story about early Leavenworth and the people who called it home.

And the exhibit at the Black Archives Museum in St. Joseph tells us that the story includes former Black residents of the South, who put down new roots in the state of Kansas.

Julie Denesha is a freelance multimedia journalist based in Kansas City. Contact her at [email protected].
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, including more historic photos, at https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2021-02-20/post-civil-war-photo-negatives-document-african-americans-building-new-lives-in-leavenworth.

Category: History