Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas health secretary, said COVID-19 cases are increasing in a more accelerated rate.
“We’re on a bit of a banana peel,” Dr. Norman said during a news conference Tuesday morning sponsored by the University of Kansas Health System.
The state’s case number is now over 12,000, with seven more deaths since Friday, he said..
The state has dealt with outbreaks in nursing homes, congregate living situations, work places and social gatherings, he said. A few cases have been seen from gatherings such as protests and party cove gatherings, according to Dr. Norman.
In Kansas, three small funerals have resulted in 40 to 50 positive COVID-19 cases and one death so far, Dr. Norman said.
“I just have a problem with gatherings,” he said. Nobody is protected in mass gatherings, he added. It’s one of the reasons the governor recommended on Monday that the state should stay in Phase 3 of the Ad Astra reopening plan.
Also, when there are less than 45 people in a gathering, people still need to social distance, he said.
The doctors at KU Health System have recommended avoiding large gatherings, and also have recommended both social distancing and wearing masks at gatherings.
Dr. Norman said it doesn’t make sense that mask-wearing has been politicized.
“Masks work, it’s not a new discovery,” he said. It’s been known for a long time, he added.
He said any time he can’t control his environment, such as when he steps outside of his office, he wears a mask.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said he has seen people inside restaurants not wearing masks.
He asked, if a person is going to have open heart surgery, would they want the surgeon to operate without a mask?
It shows the mindset, “I’m protecting me but I don’t care as much about you,” Dr. Norman said.
“COVID is not a hoax, mask wearing is not a crime. Taking care of your friends is the right thing to do,” Dr. Stites said.
Kansas this week added Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas and Maryland to the quarantine list. Anyone who travels there must quarantine when coming back to Kansas, currently.
Dr. Norman said it has been based on new data on case rate growth.
The states that are joining the list have per capita new case rates of three to five times greater than the rate in Kansas, he said. The states are put on the quarantine list in two-week increments. When the rate declines to below the Kansas rate, the KDHE will take those states off the list.
Dr. Norman also said the state is trying hard not to shut down education and business. The state is currently working on a plan to reopen schools safely.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has been working closely with the Kansas Department of Education, and the Department of Education will roll out recommendations after meeting with the school superintendents’ association, he said. It is the local school boards that will determine when school will open, he added. The state health department will provide guidance.
He said the state now has trained about 400 contact tracers to help with tracking COVID-19 cases. He said it will be helpful to have the contact tracers in place as school opens, and he thinks 400 will be enough. He doesn’t believe they need more than 400.
With more tests available, protective gear and contact tracing, the state is in pretty good shape for being able to respond better, he said. With significant increased testing, the state and local health departments can reach large numbers of people during outbreaks. People who have been exposed or who test positive can then be quarantined.
He said the state recently was able to assist at two large outbreaks, one in a county jail and the other at a plant in southeast Kansas. They were able to go in the same day, assess the situation, gather test samples and get test results back by the end of the next day, he said. Seven days later they can repeat the tests.
“I think our resiliency is much better than it was,” Dr. Norman said. “We’re very much loath to close anything down if we don’t have to.”
Dr. Norman said he thinks they’re still on an 18-to-24-month slide through this. Dr. Stites said he was more optimistic and would guess 12 months.
Dr. Stites said it’s his opinion that it’s not the health care offices that people should fear, it’s the bars. People are close together, yell and discharge droplets into the air at bars, Dr. Norman said.
That might be why COVID-19 has been affecting more 20-30 year-olds, and that age group has been increasing among patients at the hospital, Dr. Stites said.
The doctors said they believe there has been no significant difference in the virus itself, but the wearing of masks and other health measures such as hand-washing and social distancing have been working.
Dr. Stites said that while it is true that the older COVID-19 patients have been hit harder by the disease as a group, it is also true that patients in any age group can die. The risk goes down significantly in the younger patients, though.
Also at the news conference was Chelsey Smith, representing the Greater Kansas City Community Blood Center.
She said blood donations went up a little after she was on the program recently, but the blood supply is still low. It’s currently under a three-day supply, when they usually have a seven-day supply, she said.
She encouraged everyone to go to a blood center and donate blood now if they are healthy. The centers are safe, temperatures are being checked at the door, people are wearing masks and there is social distancing, she added.
The University of Kansas Health System will hold a blood drive from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Friday in the Health Education Building. For more information or to make an appointment to give blood, visit esavealifenow.com.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said KU Health System had 24 COVID-19 patients in the hospital on Tuesday morning. There were 21 patients on Monday. Seven were critically ill and six were on the ventilator.
“We are starting to see the numbers creep up a little bit,” he said, adding they don’t want that.
Wyandotte County at 1 p.m. Tuesday reported 1,899 total cumulative positive COVID-19 cases. It was an increase of 23 cases since 1 p.m. Monday. There were 78 total deaths, the same number as Monday. Hospitalizations went up to 29, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 website. There were 602 recoveries.
Mercy and Truth clinic at 721 N. 31st, Kansas City, Kansas, will be the site for the new KDHE mobile testing van on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to a clinic spokesman. There will be free COVID-19 testing and also 200 free food boxes. Translators will be available in five languages.
To see the KU doctors’ news conference, visit
https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/.
COVID-19 test sites in Wyandotte County are listed at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19
The state’s COVID-19 test page is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/280/COVID-19-Testing
Residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.
The UG’s COVID-19 information page is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County is currently under Phase 3. See covid.ks.gov.
The state plan’s frequently asked questions page is at https://covid.ks.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reopening-FAQ_5.19.2020_Final.pdf.
The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.