“Is it over yet? “
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System on Tuesday morning speculated a little bit on when it might be OK to get back to normal life, after COVID-19 recedes.
The doctors had some different ideas of when life could return to some semblance of normal.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, was a guest on the program and said it was a little over a year ago that they were talking about holding the Big 12 basketball tournament. But for this year, he thought that if the population can get to 50 to 60 percent vaccination rate, plus 12 percent who had some degree of natural immunity, they would start seeing more people gathering by the summertime.
The Kansas COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have shown a dramatic drop over the past several weeks, according to Dr. Norman.
At what point do they relax the social distancing and mask wearing rules? He said he felt that with sunshine, Vitamin D, a mass uptake of vaccines, by the summer they should have more normalcy.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the KU Health System, said he would bet on the fall, as he doesn’t think there will be large scale vaccinations until June.
Because COVID-19 is starting to wane now, there might be people who take their masks off, with another surge coming out as the weather warms up and there is not enough vaccine, he said. By August things should be turning around for the better, he added.
He’s looking forward to seeing some football games at Arrowhead Stadium, and possibly some Royals baseball games.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said it could go one of two ways. If new variants start to spread, it could lead to further shutdowns or lockdowns, but he hopes it doesn’t go that way. He said he’s more optimistic that people will be able to do more things because of mild immunity, vaccinations and mask wearing.
People will nudge back toward normalcy one way or the other, even though it may not be the safest thing to do, he said.
If vaccines by Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca and Novavax are approved, that could greatly increase the numbers who are vaccinated.
Dr. Norman said it will require wisdom to know when policies should be loosened, and they will need to consider the social psychology as well as public policy implications. Lockdowns are probably not needed and won’t be tolerated, he said.
“But we don’t want to fling the doors open and party like it’s 1999,” he added. They need to meet somewhere in the middle, he added. It will probably be July to September when they can be safe, he said.
Until then, people need to wear their masks and socially distance, according to the doctors.
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 70 on Tuesday, down two from Monday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. There were 33 active COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of three from Monday. Eleven of those patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Monday. Six of those were on ventilators, the same as Monday. There were another 37 patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 who were out of the acute phase, an increase of one since Monday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 21 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Feb. 23, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative 17,515 cases. There was a cumulative total of 265 deaths reported, an increase of two since Monday.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 153,817 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 88. MARC also reported a delay in data verification from one of the nine counties, affecting data for cases, deaths and tests, but not for hospitalizations.
The state of Kansas reported 291,715 COVID-19 cases statewide on Monday, an increase of 883 cases since Friday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There were an additional 29 deaths reported, with a cumulative total of 4,643.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday night reported 28,259,987 cases in the United States, with 502,660 total deaths nationwide.
COVID-19 tests scheduled Wednesday
The Pierson Community Center COVID-19 testing site at 831 S. 55th is open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. Appointments are required, check with the website, www.gogettested.com/Kansas, for appointments.
Unified Government COVID-19 testing and vaccine sites are scheduled to be open on Wednesday. Those seeking vaccinations need to have an appointment, while those seeking COVID-19 testing may walk in and get a test kit.
The Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 test site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State will be open Wednesday, Feb. 24, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Appointments are not needed for COVID-19 tests there on Wednesday. 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.
Wyandotte County residents who are interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine may fill out a survey form at the UG Health Department at https://us.openforms.com/Form/2f2bcc68-3b6a-450b-9007-d39819db6572. Residents will be contacted to make an appointment when vaccine becomes available. The Health Department currently is vaccinating high-contact critical workers, as well as residents over 65.
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 online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/257519145849636.
The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/patient-visitor/covid19-update.
For more information about how Wyandotte County residents over 85 can get a vaccine at the Health Department site, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02032021_wycovaccinationsage85.pdf.
Vaccine data for the state of Kansas is at https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data.
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.