Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman said on Wednesday afternoon that decisions that have been made – particularly by the state Legislature – have contributed to the upswing of positive COVID-19 cases in Kansas.
Dr. Norman, at a news conference, showed a chart of case numbers rising in Kansas and said that the increases are not random, but are predictable.
In the past 10 days, there have been 2,500 additional cases in Kansas, he said. As the state approaches the Fourth of July holiday, he is concerned about cases increasing more.
Kansas reduced the disease spread on March 16, when schools closed, and on March 30, when a stay-at-home order was put in place, he said.
Twenty-two days later, two incubation periods, the state reached its peak at the end of April, he said.
On May 4, the state entered the first phase of the reopening plan.
Then a phase 1.5 was begun, with a continued good decrease, he said.
“This is where things started going sideways,” Dr. Norman said.
On May 27, a bill was passed in the state Legislature resulting in the state opening plan becoming guidance and not a mandated plan, he said.
Ideally, Dr. Norman said he would have liked to see the numbers gradually taper off until July 1, to have time to build up supplies of personal protective equipment for the expected autumn and winter onslaught of cases.
Instead, by the state plan becoming guidance, many counties opened up and returned to business as usual, he said. Particularly, mass gatherings opened up, he said.
Kansas is still in Phase 3, which allows no more than 45 people, but it is merely guidance at this point, Dr. Norman said.
On Memorial Day, around May 31, they saw mass gatherings throughout the state, he said.
As counties were free to make their own decisions, some were adhered to the Ad Astra plan while others had their own plans, some of which were more stringent, and others did not adopt any plan.
Wyandotte County has its own health orders in place that have mandated Phase 3 of the Ad Astra plan here.
On June 4, a special session of the Legislature passed a bill, HB 2016, that included impedimenets to doing contact tracing, he said.
The legislators were concerned about privacy, but the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had no plans for electronic tracing, he said. Dr. Norman said the bill changed the way they can contact people. The bill includes provisions about third parties that would interfere with contact tracing, according to Dr. Norman.
Dr. Norman predicted that the trend line of cases will steepen, and that it would be more difficult to do contact tracing.
The KDHE’s mobile testing van went out for the first time and visited Wyandotte County on Saturday, and tested about 250 people at the Mercy and Truth Clinic.
Of those, about 13 percent tested positive for the virus, Dr. Norman said.
He said the state has about 4,033 cases that are related to active clusters, or outbreaks, in the state. It shows the virus is not gone, nor does it plan to take a break over the holiday weekend,he said.
Monday, the KDHE visited the state hospital, where it tested 250 people, with results yet to be determined, he said.
He said the essential approaches of winning the battle with COVID-19 are antiviral medications and vaccine, and they don’t have either one yet.
Lacking those, they are trying to stop the spread of the disease through adequate testing capacity, rapid case investigation, aggressive contact tracing, and isolation and quarantinehe said.
Since there isn’t yet a cure, the solution is prevention, mask wearing, good hygiene and social distancing, he said.
Three-fourths of the time, when there are clusters of cases, someone comes to work or goes to a party or a funeral, when they are ill, he said. “So stay home when you’re ill,” he added.
He asked everyone to remain vigilant over the Fourth of July holiday.
Outbreaks
There were 221 clusters or outbreaks in Kansas, with 108 still active, according to the KDHE. They accounted for 6,484 cases and 205 deaths.
Dr. Norman said a new cluster area today is sports, which has reported four clusters in Kansas, with 29 total cases.
Statewide outbreaks, or clusters of cases, were reported by the KDHE in these areas on Wednesday:
• Corrections: 4 clusters (3 closed), 1,026 cases, 7 deaths
• Daycare or school: 4 clusters (1 closed), 16 cases
• Gatherings: 29 clusters (15 closed), 312 cases, 14 deaths
• Group living: 10 clusters (5 closed), 89 cases, 3 deaths
• Healthcare: 10 clusters (5 closed), 73 cases
• Long-term care: 53 clusters (27 closed), 963 cases, 159 deaths
• Meatpacking: 12 clusters (3 closed), 3,182 cases, 16 deaths
• Private industry: 95 clusters (54 closed), 794 cases, 6 deaths
• Sports: 4 clusters, 29 cases
Dr. Norman’s news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/KDHEnews/videos/574144539956381
The Wyandotte County mask order is at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/06272020LocalHealthOfficerOrderRegardingMasks.pdf.
A news release on the Wyandotte County mask order is at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/06272020PressReleaseLHORequiresPublicToWearMasks.pdf.
The governor’s news release on mask-wearing is at https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-laura-kelly-announces-masks-must-be-worn-statewide/.
Wyandotte County now has posted an application for nonprofits, government agencies, school districts and businesses in Wyandotte County that want to apply for CARES Act funding. The web address is https://us.openforms.com/Form/6273fe80-8bba-4c18-b4e7-e551096d8a83.
For information on how to make an easy no-sew mask, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/how-to-make-a-no-sew-cloth-mask/.
For more information about COVID-19 testing, including other sites, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. Residents also may call 3-1-1 for more information about testing.
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.
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.