Kansas reported an increase of 10 COVID-19 cases today, according to statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The total number rose to 44.
An increase of seven cases was reported in Johnson County, which went from 16 to 23 positive cases, according to the state statistics. Wyandotte County cases remained at nine today, the same as Thursday.
The case numbers were updated at 10 a.m. Friday.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health, said in a news conference today that they were low on test kits for COVID-19 currently, and they could run out of some supplies this weekend unless they get more. They are testing about 150 to 200 a day, he said.
They will receive a third and fourth machine to run the tests on, he said. Commercial labs now are helping with testing, he said. Four are now commercially available, he added.
He said the number of positives in Kansas is about 4 percent of the total tests given.
Johnson County is the only county in the state that has community transmission, he said. There’s less of a need to do testing when there is community transmission, he said. At a time when the flu is dropping off, if a person has a respiratory illness in Johnson County, there is less need to do testing because doctors know it’s coronavirus causing it, he said.
“That’s the justification during community transmission to not do that kind of testing,” he said. That’s different from what the public thinks, that they are short on test kits or don’t want to test people, he added.
He said they may change their testing strategies at some later date. The CDC is supportive and the state KDHE supports Johnson County’s decision to do less testing instead of more, he said. COVID-19 testing is still used for hospital patients who are the sickest, he added.
In many cases, patients without severe symptoms will be told to go home and wait until later, perhaps for another seven days after the onset of symptoms.
In Wyandotte County, the strategy on testing is a little different. Wyandotte County health officials announced Thursday night that they would aggressively track down the contacts of positive patients in an effort to stop the virus from spreading. Those contacts could be notified to self-quarantine, if necessary.
Dr. Norman said KDHE is recommending voluntary quarantines for those coming from visits to certain countries and certain counties in Colorado. The guidelines are on the website at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus.
Firefighters, police, medical personnel and the food production industry are exempt from some of these quarantine guidelines.
Dr. Norman said KDHE is recommending continuation for child care facility operations and licensing, and child care is a critical service to the state.
A group is currently meeting on how to meet possible future needs of more hospital beds and equipment, he said. While there isn’t a need right now for that, they are planning in case of a need in the future.
About the increase of 10 cases today in the state, he said, “This is a trajectory we’re going to continue to see. That is why we must continue to emphasize to people, ‘Don’t be dumb.’”
People need to avoid crowds, he said. Although Kansas isn’t yet at the stage to shelter in place, like California, he said, if the number of cases continues to increase, they might look at more restrictions.
In the next week or two, there will be a better ability to project the future numbers of cases, he said.
“Every month that we get farther down the road, the closer we are to a vaccine or antiviral medications. And that’s the goal,” Dr. Norman said.
At a telephone news conference on Friday afternoon, University of Kansas Health System physicians put the emphasis on people choosing to practice good health behaviors.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, said Kansas may be seven to 10 days behind New York.
He said an opportunity has been granted to us “because we can see what’s going on in the coasts.”
People need to stay inside, not go out in groups, wash their hands, not touch their faces and practice social distancing, he said. It’s not a lot of fun, he said, but it has to be if people want to shorten the length of the curve.
Elective surgery procedures are being limited at KU Hospital, he said, as well as at other hospitals, in an effort to conserve resources in case they are needed for COVID-19.
Telemedicine, already in effect here, is being ramped up to serve patients in the KU Health System, he said.
There was also information presented on the changing visitor policy at the hospital, and the difference between self-quarantining and isolation.
The list of positive COVID-19 cases on March 20 in Kansas included:
Butler County, 2; Cherokee County, 1; Douglas County 1; Franklin County, 1; Jackson County (Kansas), 1; Johnson County, 23; Leavenworth County, 2; Linn County 1; Morris County, 2; Sedgwick County, 1; and Wyandotte County, 9. In addition, Ford and Miami counties have reported 2 positive cases from out-of-state residents; those numbers are posted in the residents’ home states.
To see the KDHE news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/KDHEnews/videos/3057829684241751/?tn=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARA0gqBcLhQV6XyQ5O4QkUB1Ao_otK1UQI5f1dJbCyU7Zub6of2sn_vucr-FvFATzLwhkdsWRwEbdb45
To view the KU Health System news conference, visit https://www.medicalnewsnetwork.org/NewsNetwork/DocTalk/C/Friday%20Media%20Briefing%20on%20COVID-19%20From%20The%20University%20of%20Kansas%20Health%20System
For more information, visit the KDHE website at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus.
The CDC also has a COVID-19 website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/.
The Unified Government has a COVID-19 website at Wycokck.org/COVID-19.