Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System said Friday morning that wearing a mask is not telling you what to do or taking away your rights.
Rather, mask-wearing is a sign you’re trying to protect the community and yourself, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer of KU Health System.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health System, said studies have shown that countries with mask mandates have safely opened society and their schools.
The doctors also stated, in answer to a question, that COVID-19 is not the flu. There are many more deaths with COVID-19 as there have been in the flu season, according to the doctors. (See https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu for more information about the number of deaths with COVID-19 as compared to the flu) Also, there is a flu vaccination and treatment for the flu, but none for this virus.
The KU doctors also answered many other questions during the program on Friday morning.
On Friday morning, KU Health System had 25 COVID-19 patients, the same as Thursday. Twelve were in the intensive care unit, up from 11 on Thursday, and eight were on ventilators, an increase from six on Thursday. There were more discharges than admissions, according to doctors. There are also a lot of newly diagnosed patients admitted daily, they said.
In Wyandotte County, COVID-19 cumulative cases were 4,809 on Friday afternoon, an increase of 69 since Thursday, according to the UG COVID-19 webpage. There were a total cumulative 99 deaths, an increase of one death since Thursday.
The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1032137773911398at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/672481063355122.
The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.
For more information on who may be tested and what to bring, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.