A mask mandate for Kansas City, Kansas, was extended on Thursday night by the Unified Government Commission.
The mask mandate, for all indoor public spaces in Kansas City, Kansas, was unanimously approved by the commission, 10-0. It will run through 11:59 p.m. Nov. 18.
According to UG officials, the mask mandate is the same as one passed previously, and it excludes the cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. It also excludes school districts, which will make their own decisions. The mandate applies to Kansas City, Kansas.
The current mask mandate started on Aug. 5 and was scheduled to end Sept. 16.
Besides approving the mandate, the UG Commission also extended the state of emergency in Wyandotte County through Dec. 16 in a unanimous vote.
Matt May, Wyandotte County emergency management director, said it was extended for the same reasons as in the past. It will maintain the ability for the county to be reimbursed through state or federal programs, he said.
Two supportive public comments were received during the discussion. One was from a child who lived in Jackson County, Missouri, and attends school in Wyandotte County, and said his grandfather died of COVID. He requested that they keep masks on until kids can have vaccines.
During the 6 p.m. COVID discussion, Dr. Erin Corriveau, UG deputy medical officer, recommended extending the mask order.
The average in Wyandotte County has been about 63 new COVID cases a day, she said. There was a huge peak late in August, she added.
Currently, there could be a start of a downward trend in COVID cases, but they can’t be sure because it’s possible there was a slight data lag because of Labor Day closures, she said.
Last week alone, there were 421 new cases, and there were four COVID deaths in the last week, she said.
The UG Health Department is engaged in a very robust testing program, she added.
The Wyandotte County positivity rate is just under 20 percent, which is better than around 30 percent at the last report to the commission, she said.
“Unfortunately, the majority of residents in Wyandotte County still remain unvaccinated,” Dr. Corriveau said.
Those Wyandotte County residents with one vaccine dose total 47.4 percent, while those who completed their vaccines total 40.5 percent, she said.
She added that the Health Department is still unable to get any data from the state of Missouri about anyone from Wyandotte County who has been vaccinated in Missouri. However, they have been able to get the totals of Wyandotte County residents who were vaccinated in other Kansas counties.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s county COVID rankings had some good news for Wyandotte County, she said.
Wyandotte County ranks ninth in the state overall in its COVID rankings, she said.
The county’s vaccination rate is ranked 16th in the state, she said. The KDHE uses 54 percent as the vaccination rate here because it includes those who are eligible, ages 12 and over only. The county numbers include the total population.
Under testing, Wyandotte County ranks 10th in the state, Dr. Corriveau said.
However, under COVID cases, Wyandotte County is 61st, she said.
“We know there is still community spread of this Delta variant in our community,” Dr. Corriveau said.
The Health Department is focusing its efforts on stopping the spread of the virus, she said. The mask resolution was an effort to do that.
Kansas City, Missouri, and Jackson County, Missouri, have indoor mask mandates currently in place, she said. Johnson County requires masks to be worn in kindergarten through sixth grade for the remainder of the school year.
Reasons to support a mask mandate are the uncontrolled high community spread; the high transmissibility of Delta; the majority of Wyandotte County residents who are not vaccinated; children under 12 who are ineligible to get a vaccine; and strained hospital resources, she said.
At the University of Kansas Health System, they still have high numbers of patients on the ventilators and in the hospital with COVID, according to Dr. Corriveau. Lately, the number has been about 100 patients with COVID. They also are seeing people in their 40s and 50s, as well as many children hospitalized.
While Dr. Corriveau recommended the mask mandate until Nov. 11, the UG Commission passed a resolution extending it until Nov. 18. According to UG officials, that change was to make it work in conjunction with the UG’s meeting schedules.
In answer to a question from Commissioner Melissa Bynum, Dr. Corriveau said she would like to see the percent positivity cases decrease below 10 percent, and the daily case rate go down from 60 to 20 or less, before the mask mandate should be lifted.
She said with flu season coming up, she is a little worried about flu cases on top of COVID cases. Health officials have recommended that people get their flu shots in early October.
There has been a downturn in some areas, probably due to masking, she said, and if they were to let up too soon, they could have another bump in the numbers.
James Bain, a UG attorney, said in answer to Bynum’s question that state statutes have allowed violations of health orders to be a Class C misdemeanor, long before the COVID pandemic. The UG during the COVID period passed ordinances making a violation of health orders a crime, since last March. That is so it could be prosecuted in municipal court as a city violation, if needed, he said. The misdemeanor language is part of all the local health orders.
There have been no convictions, no tickets written, under these ordinances, he said. There was an education focus on all the health orders, with no criminal prosecutions, he added. Representatives of the Health Department have talked to some of those who violated the ordinances, and explained the rules to them.
The mask mandate also includes the small, unincorporated area of Loring in Wyandotte County.
The special session on COVID is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji1d0qf-XRQ.
Federal workers required to get vaccinations
The big COVID news Thursday was an announcement by President Joe Biden that all federal workers and contractors will have to get COVID-19 vaccines. They will not have an opt-out testing choice.
Also, if a business has more than 100 workers, employees would be required to either get vaccinated or tested.
Another provision of the president’s plan is to require all health care workers at hospitals, nursing homes and facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to be fully vaccinated.
Also, large sports arenas and large entertainment venues would have to require those entering to provide proof of vaccination or testing.
There are a number of provisions aimed at encouraging vaccinations at schools, including requiring all Head Start staff to get vaccinated.
For more information on this plan, visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/.
Vaccines, tests available
COVID-19 testing will continue on Friday, Sept. 10, in Wyandotte County.
The former Kmart building at 7836 State Ave., a Unified Government Health Department vaccination site, will be open for testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and for free COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. There are incentives being offered for Wyandotte County residents, while supplies last.
Mobile vaccines can be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311). For more information on the Unified Government Health Department’s vaccine schedule, see WycoVaccines.org.
COVID-19 vaccines and tests are available at other locations in Wyandotte County, including some pharmacies. For locations and availability, visit www.vaccines.gov.
COVID-19 testing from WellHealth will be available beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 10, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th. The site is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.
Free vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public, and appointments are required. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.
A special vaccine event is planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Area Agency on Aging community room, 849 B N. 47th, (Indian Springs area), Kansas City, Kansas. The Unified Government Health Department is presenting the event with the Area Agency on Aging. Free COVID-19 vaccines, $50 gift cards for Wyandotte County residents who get vaccinated, while supplies last, and a free lunch will be available. For a free ride to the event, call 913-262-5190, with the code VACS, or contact UG transit at 913-573-8351.
Soccer Nation, 550 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will sponsor COVID testing and vaccinations from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11. Appointments are not required. Pfizer vaccines will be available for ages 12 and up, with parents or guardians required for 12-18. Johnson and Johnson vaccine is available for those ages 18 and older. Also, PCR saliva testing kits will be available. Vibrant Health will be conducting the vaccinations.
Case numbers reported
The University of Kansas Health System reported 100 total COVID-19 patients on Thursday, Sepet. 9, the same as Wednesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. Fifty patients with the active virus were inpatients on Thursday, a decrease of five since Wednesday. Two COVID patients died on Wednesday. Sixteen patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Wednesday, and only two were vaccinated. Nine patients were on ventilators, the same as Wednesday. Fifty other patients were still hospitalized from COVID, but were out of the acute infection phase, an increase of five since Wednesday.
Last year on Labor Day, KU Health System had 21 patients with active COVID infections, compared to around 60 this year. So far in September this year, there have been 18 deaths, compared to 17 in the whole month of September last year. In August of this year, the health system had 37 deaths, compared to 18 in August of last year.
Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 23,076 cases on Thursday, Sept. 9, an increase of 63 cases since Wednesday, Sept. 8, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative total of 340 deaths on Thursday, an increase of two from Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Unified Government Health Department reported that 47.37 percent of Wyandotte County residents had received at least one dose of vaccine. Those completing their vaccinations totaled about 40.52 percent.
The percentage of Wyandotte County residents who were age 12 and older who had received at least one dose was 58.3 percent.
The Mid-America Regional Council reported 204,111 cases in Greater Kansas City, a nine-county area. There were a total of 2,768 deaths. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 130.
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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 382,850 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, Sept. 8, an increase of 5,727 since Friday, Sept. 3, (the second most recent reporting date for state totals). There was a total of 5,693 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of 63 since Sept. 3.
The KDHE reported 71,224 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Johnson County on Sept. 8, an increase of 698 since Sept. 3. Leavenworth County had 9,373 cases on Sept. 8, an increase of 139 since Sept. 3. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 69,756 cases on Sept. 8, an increase of 1,270 since Sept. 3.
On Friday, the KHDE reported 10,820 cumulative cases in Douglas County (the Lawrence area), an increase of 183 since Sept. 3. Riley County (the Manhattan area) had 7,236 cumulative cases, an increase of 60 since Sept. 3. Shawnee County (the Topeka area) had 22,876 cumulative cases, an increase of 439 cases since Sept. 3.
On Thursday night, there were a cumulative 40,601,577 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with a cumulative 654,579 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Links
Visit gogettested.com/Kansas and https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19 for more testing sites.
Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.
For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.