Two University of Kansas Health System doctors will throw out the first pitch at the Kansas City Royals home opener game tonight, remotely.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, and Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, will throw out the first pitch.
The game at 6:30 p.m. Friday is being held without fans.
Dr. Vince Key, Royals team doctor, said it’s been challenging to keep the players and coaches safe and already, several have contracted the virus. With 60 players on the roster, he thinks they will be able to continue playing the entire season safely.
The team members and coaches take a saliva test for COVID-19 every other day, he said.
The players are very good at observing distancing, avoiding gathering together and eating out after the games, he said. The clubhouse has been redesigned to allow social distancing, and masks are required, he said.
There were 36 COVID-19 patients at the KU Health System Friday morning, up from 35 on Thursday. Ten patients were in the intensive care unit, a decrease of one from Thursday, and five patients were on ventilators, the same as on Thursday.
On Friday, Wyandotte County reported a total cumulative 4,374 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 49 since Thursday, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 website. There were no new deaths, the total remained the same at 95.
Kansas reported an increase of 1,042 positive COVID-19 cases from Wednesday to Friday, with an increase of nine deaths, according to KDHE statistics.
The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/652796395338661
The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-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.