Ron Miller described the changes he has seen in the U.S. Marshal Service since the start of COVID-19.
Miller, the U.S. marshal for Kansas, is a former Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka police chief. He spoke during a Kansas Department of Health and Environment news conference on Wednesday.
Miller said most of his agency’s work is transporting prisoners to federal courts, protecting the federal judicial process, and sometimes, hunting fugitives who have warrants issued by federal courts.
Since the start of COVID-19, his agency has seen changes in transporting defendants, making sure everyone wears a mask, he said. They also have seen changes to courtrooms, such as Plexiglas barriers, he said.
When they are hunting fugitives and make arrests, sometimes contact occurs between the officer and the fugitive, and there are potential COVID-19 exposure opportunities, he said.
They try to give the deputies personal protective equipment, according to Miller, and they wear the equipment until the person is under control, then take off the PPE after they drop off the defendant at a jail.
It’s complex, trying to protect individuals, defendants, arrestees, law enforcement officers and the community at the same time, he said.
In many cases, it’s personal interaction with people who don’t always take COVID-19 seriously.
“They may not buy into it, they may think it’s some kind of conspiracy, they may just not care. It’s a problem for the officers and it could be a problem for the arrestees,” he said.
Miller said some U.S. marshals were deployed to Portland, Oregon, to protect the federal courthouse there.
“That’s an anomaly,” he said, adding they don’t usually get sent to that sort of situation.
Every county in the state has to deal with the same issues, inmate populations, and the marshals service is just a partner in the process, he said.
Miller said it’s a toug time in law enforcement right now. The pandemic is just another challenge to the profession, he said.
He asked residents and communities to continue supporting law enforcement.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has worked with local, state and federal correctional facilities. There have been some COVID-19 cases in corrections facilities.
There were nine active clusters in correctional facilities on Wednesday, according to Dr. Norman.
Also, there were five active clusters in colleges and universities on Wednesday, a new category in the KDHE cluster list, he said. It’s likely the students brought COVID-19 with them, he said, as most students have not been on campus very long.
Kansas reported an increase of 723 COVID-19 cases since Monday and six new deaths, according to Dr. Norman. There was a cumulative total of 35,890 cases from 103 counties with a total of 411 deaths on Wednesday morning.
Wyandotte County reported 51 more COVID-19 cases at 4 p.m. Wednesday, a cumulative total of 5,397, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were 109 total deaths reported, an increase of one since Tuesday. The deaths, officials stated last week, are reported after doctors report them, and some may be several days ago.
At the University of Kansas Health System, there were 23 COVID-19 patients in the hospital on Wednesday morning, compared to 25 on Tuesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health center. Seven patients were in the intensive care unit, down from 10 on Tuesday, and three were on ventilators, down from six on Tuesday. Another 23 patients in the hospital who had COVID-19 are not included in the count, as they are past the infectious stage.
Some students eager to return to school
The KU doctors’ news conference heard from a college student who was returning to college after having had COVID-19. She advised students to take COVID-19 seriously, socially distance and wear a mask. After not being in classes for seven months, everyone is eager to go back to school, she said.
Dr. Stephen Lauer, a pediatrician, said they have seen anxiety, depression and suicide among youth who have been away from school for several months. He was worried about the long-term effects and educational challenges of missing school. Some students could be a year behind their normal schooling.
According to Dr. Lauer, it is up to each family to make the decision that’s right for them about in-person or online classes.
Students are getting caught up on their vaccinations and back-to-school medical visits, he said. He encouraged everyone to get a flu shot.
Free testing offered
Free COVID-19 testing is planned from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 16 S. Iowa St., Kansas City, Kansas, through Swope Health and the Health Equity Task Force.
Another pop-up testing site is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Eighth Street Baptist Church, 1420 N. 8th St., Kansas City, Kansas, through Vibrant Health and the Health Equity Task Force.
Free testing also 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 KDHE news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/KDHEnews/videos/2680082192274634.
The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital.
The UG Health Department sports order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/08132020localhealthofficerorderregardingsports.pdf.
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.