Faced with another day of rising hospital admissions, doctors at the University of Kansas Health System Friday warned that overcrowded hospital conditions, such as what is happening in Texas, could happen here.
While Kansas City area hospitals are not at capacity today, they could easily run out of beds if people don’t change their social behavior, said Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System. He spoke at a KU Health System news conference Friday.
Dr. Stites said he was on a conference call on Thursday with six other chief medical officers of Kansas City area hospitals, and the number of COVID-19 patients are rising fairly rapidly at all the hospitals.
“The number of new cases in Kansas City, Wyandotte County and Johnson County are really rising rapidly,” Dr. Stites said. “That’s a concern.”
Kansas is on a national list for rapid growth of COVID-19 cases.
He said they would probably watch the numbers rise, and he would not be surprised if there would eventually be 60 to 70 COVID-19 cases in the hospital.
Dr. Stites also warned that young people do not get a free pass; they can get COVID-19, also.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said the rising number of cases could overwhelm the hospital’s bed capacity and create a shortage of personal protective equipment. Since some of the population now getting ill are younger, there might be shorter hospital stays without so much use of the ventilators, he believes.
“We know how to protect ourselves, physical distancing works, along with hand hygiene,” Dr. Hawkinson said. He noted that society already has a number of rules, such as not being able to go into a store and smoke, because it is a public health issue. The same goes for mask-wearing, he said.
On Friday, they heard from Dr. Sonja Bartolome, chief quality officer at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who trained at KU Health System and now is in Dallas, Texas. She said the number of cases there now is stressing the system. Bars there have been closed because of outbreaks, and the high numbers are starting to level off, she said.
Dr. Bartolome said bars may lead to the spread of COVID-19 as people are together in groups, not wearing masks and not keeping six feet apart.
She urged people to continue to practice social distancing, wear a mask, wash their hands and avoid crowds.
Wyandotte County reported 115 new COVID-19 cases, with the total at 3,432 at 1 p.m. Friday, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was no increase in the numbers of deaths, and the total stayed at 88.
Although Wyandotte County’s numbers shot up over 100 cases Friday, for the first time in many weeks, Wyandotte County no longer had the highest number of cases in Kansas. That designation goes to Johnson County, which on Friday had a total of 3,654 cases, according to the KDHE website.
KU Health System reported 35 COVID-19 patients on Friday morning, an increase of one from Thursday, according to Dr. Hawkinson. Twelve were in the intensive care unit and four were on ventilators, the same as Thursday. On Monday, there were 22 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.
Kansas reported 21,965 cumulative cases on Friday, an increase of 1,032 cases since Wednesday, according to figures from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There were no new deaths on Friday.
Other counties in Kansas with large numbers of COVID-19 cases included
Sedgwick County, 2,790;
Ford County, 2,053;
Finney County, 1,578;
Leavenworth County, 1,274;
Shawnee County, 1,146;
Seward County, 1,047;
Lyon County, 540;
Douglas County, 500;
Riley County, 360;
Crawford County, 332.
The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/4195586530515254
For information on the amended Wyandotte County mask order, visit https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/07142020MaskOrderAmendments.pdf and https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/07142020LocalHealthOfficerOrderMaskAmendments.pdf.
The governor’s executive order on masks is at https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200702093130003.pdf.
The governor’s news release on the mask order is at https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-laura-kelly-signs-executive-order-mandating-masks-in-public-spaces/.
The Wyandotte County mask order is at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/06272020LocalHealthOfficerOrderRegardingMasks.pdf.
Wyandotte County 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.