I-70 westbound lanes on the Lewis and Clark Viaduct have reopened. (KDOT photo)
The I-70 westbound lanes of the Lewis and Clark Viaduct in Kansas City, Kansas, reopened last weekend, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The bridge replacement project was started in 2018 at an estimated cost of $65 million, according to a spokesman. The viaduct connects Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri.
The original bridge carrying the westbound lanes was built in 1962.
Deck work on the bridge will continue this spring, requiring some lane closures, according to a KDOT spokesman.
Additional road condition details are available at www.Kandrive.org. Motorists are asked to be alert, obey warning signs when approaching and driving through a work zone, drive safely and wear a seat belt.
The Unified Government and Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, with residents, joined with the nation on Tuesday night in a nationwide lighting memorial to honor the more than 400,000 American lives lost to COVID-19. Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, City Hall and the Wyandotte County Courthouse were lit in memory of the COVID-19 victims. (Photo from Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department)
COVID-19 case numbers in Kansas are trending down, according to Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health.
Dr. Norman, speaking at the University of Kansas Health System news conference on Tuesday, said the Kansas case per capita rate is one of the best in the nation. The coasts and the South are increasing in their numbers of cases currently, he said.
The nation’s COVID-19 death rate surpassed 400,000 on Tuesday night, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website, as a nationwide lighting memorial was held to commemorate the victims of COVID-19.
“We are kind of holding our breath,” Dr. Norman said Tuesday morning. “It is a plateauing off, but it’s a higher plateau than we’ve been.”
“We’ve got some struggles ahead,” he said. “The vaccine won’t be here in sufficient quantities quite yet to stem that tide.”
Getting the vaccine in long-term care facilities will be one of the pivotal factors for such a vulnerable population, he added.
On Monday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment did all its allocations for the week, to go out in two shipments, he said. They will have a good idea by the end of the week when they can move to Phase 2, he said.
There will be formal announcements by the end of the week about moving into Phase 2, he said.
Dr. Norman said he was on a series of frustrating phone calls last week about vaccine availability. He said the promises of vaccine quantities have not come through yet. They were told there was a reserve that did not really exist, he added.
He said the state pushes out the vaccine as quickly as it can, and the supply is just trickling coming in.
“We don’t hold it at the state,” Dr. Norman said. They send it all out to the 300-some vaccination sites.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said he was concerned with some of the rollout procedures in Missouri. He receives calls from places that have received vaccines asking him if there are an extra 1,000 people, possibly a department in the city, they can find to vaccinate. More consistency is needed in how they deal with the excess vaccines, he said. Lucas also made his remarks at the KU Health System news conference on Tuesday morning.
Dr. Norman said it’s important not to waste any vaccine. Up to 31.2 million doses have been sent out nationwide, and 12.3 million are listed in the data system as having been administered, he said. That is about 39 percent in the United States, he added. The data lags behind actual administration of the vaccine.
Kansas is at 60 percent compared to 39 percent in the United States, outperforming the average, but still a ways to go, he said.
When the state receives more supplies of vaccine, it will flip the switch on hundreds more vaccination sites, Dr. Norman said. Vaccine sites will be listed at kansasvaccine.gov.
Wyandotte County vaccination site ready to go
After touring the Unified Government Health Department vaccination facility last Thursday, Gov. Kelly left a message on the “Sentiments Wall.” The vaccination site is the former Kmart building at 78th and State. (Photo from UG Health Department)Gov. Laura Kelly toured the vaccination site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State last Thursday. She was accompanied by Mayor David Alvey and Health Department officials. (Photo from UG Health Department)
In Wyandotte County, one of the COVID-19 vaccination sites will be at the former Kmart building at 78th and State Avenue, where thousands of vaccinations already have been given out to health care workers. Gov. Laura Kelly toured the building last Thursday.
Reaching vulnerable populations, and avoiding a Chiefs’ spike
Mayor Lucas said they are working hard on the Missouri side to get the vaccine to those who are vulnerable. Clinics and health care facilities are very involved in this effort, and also, an educational effort is being made to tell people about vaccine safety. There is an online sign-up form for Missouri residents.
A question that now being considered is will Kansas City face a spike in COVID-19 cases from Chiefs’ playoff gatherings?
That’s a situation that concerns Mayor Lucas, who said they were happy not to see a big spike in mid-November around Thanksgiving.
He’s excited about the Chiefs’ victories in the playoff games, but house parties to watch football potentially could turn into a “holiday season, part two,” he said.
He said he hopes people are heeding the health advice to wear masks and socially distance.
He said because of COVID-19, there will be no Chiefs’ victory parade this year, as there was last year, if the Chiefs win. They are working on alternative celebrations, he added.
COVID-19 case numbers
Dr. Nathan Bahr, an infectious disease specialist at KU Health System, reported 67 active COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on Tuesday morning, an increase of one from Friday. There were 21 patients in the intensive care unit, the same as Friday, and 10 of the ICU patients were on ventilators, the same as Friday. Another 47 COVID-19 patients were out of the acute infection phase, down from 54 on Friday. There were a total of 114 COVID-19 patients, a decrease of six from Friday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 41 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Jan. 19, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative 16,203 cases. There was a cumulative total of 210 deaths.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 138,999 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. There were 1,684 cumulative deaths, and 140 was the daily average of new hospitalizations.
The state of Kansas reported 259,822 COVID-19 cases statewide on Monday, an increase of 3,688 cases since Friday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There were an additional 23 deaths, with a cumulative total of 3,525.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday night reported 24,247,006 total cumulative cases in the United States, with 401,586 total deaths nationwide.
Free COVID-19 testing available Wednesday
The Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 test site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State will be open on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at the former Kmart building, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The UG Health Department recently added flu testing to the COVID-19 test at the Kmart building. Only one swab is used for the two tests. The Health Department estimates a two- to three-day wait for COVID-19 results. For the flu, the department only contacts people if it is positive.
Tests from the Health Department are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County. The tests are nasopharyngeal swab tests. The Health Department no longer uses saliva tests.
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.
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.
Harvesters—The Community Food Network will honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a Day of Service at Harvesters on Monday, Jan. 18,.
As Dr. King said, “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
Volunteers will donate food and help Harvesters sort and pack donated food during five, two-hour shifts.
Volunteers also will participate in a service learning project focused on King and his legacy. Volunteers include individuals, organization and corporate groups.
All of the volunteers will wear masks at all times and will be socially distanced from each other.
Groups volunteering that day include the following: • Epsilon Eta Eta Professional Nursing Sorority (8:30 -10:30 a.m.) • Kansas City Zoo (8:30-10:30 a.m., 3-5 p.m., and 5-7 p.m.) • Baker, Sterchi, Cowden & Rice (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) • St. James United Methodist Church (1-3 p.m.) • Kansas City Construction Specifications Institute (5-7 p.m.)
“We’re very grateful for the generous gift of time these volunteers will give to Harvesters on this Day of Service,” says Valerie Nicholson-Watson, Harvesters president and CEO. “We welcome and greatly need more volunteers to give their gift of time throughout the year, and we are diligently working to keep our volunteers safe during this pandemic by our stringent cleaning measures, mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing stations throughout our facility,” she added.
Anyone wishing to schedule a volunteer session can do so online at www.harvesters.org/GiveTime.
