Positive COVID-19 case numbers rose by 15 on Saturday in Wyandotte County, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There was one additional death since Friday, from 77 to 78 deaths.
Total cumulative cases at 1 p.m. Saturday in Wyandotte County were 1,827 on Saturday, as compared to 1,812 at 4 p.m. Friday. Positive cases went from 1,775 at 4 p.m. June 18 to 1,812 at 4 p.m. June 19, an increase of 37.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 18 COVID-19 patients on Friday morning, down from 19 on Thursday, according to doctors. Eight patients were in the intensive care unit, an increase of one from Thursday, and six were on ventilators. Two patients were discharged since Thursday, while new patients were admitted.
On Friday morning, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 12,059 total cumulative positive cases, an increase of 368 cases since Wednesday morning. There was an increase of seven deaths from Wednesday to Friday in the state, for a total of 254.
At a KU Health System news conference Friday morning, on Juneteenth, a guest panelist was Dr. Richard A. Stone, executive director of the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Stone responded to recent allegations of discrimination in the Kansas City VA hospital. He said he realized there were inequities in health care and was doing all he could to erase the inequities.
He said this week they had spoken to most of the complainants and they are optimistic they will be moving more rapidly on it.
Dr. Stone said he found any discrimination completely unacceptable. Growing up and living most of his career in the military, he said he believed they were the model of how people should be treated. He said he would not accept in any hospital any issues portrayed like what has been reported about the Kansas City VA Hospital.
He said they recognized there was health inequity in the nation, and one area was seen in the race and ethnicity rates of persons with prostate cancer. In the past two years, after recognizing a pattern earlier, they have erased inequity in the survival rates of prostate cancer patients in the VA system, he said.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, who was a guest on Friday’s conference, stated that the news reports about the alleged discriminatory practices at the Kansas City VA spurred his office to get involved and to make sure the issues are looked into.
Also calling for something to be done about the alleged discrimination at the Kansas City VA recently were Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri. On Thursday they sent a letter to the Kansas City VA director asking for an investigation into alleged discriminatory acts. They asked the VA to turn over all documented discrimination complaints and how they were handled in the past 10 years.
Sen. Moran also said on Friday that at the forefront of his work on the veterans’ committee are the issues of suicide and mental health, and stress associated with military service. He said they are working with the VA to make sure those numbers are reduced.
According to Sen. Moran and Dr. Stone, the VA serves as the nation’s backup health care system, ready to step up in times of emergencies. Dr. Stone stated the VA has a good supply of personal protective equipment and could handle a surge in patients.
Dr. Vince Key, an orthopedic surgeon at KU Health System, said that he believes the medical system must be vigilant in keeping out systemic racism for all patients. He said those who work in the health system have to have open and honest discussions about ending systemic racism.
Dr. Key noted that when African-American soldiers returned home after military service, some came back to a country that did not appreciate them and did not always recognize their right to vote. “It’s been a long history of disparities,” he said.
Sen. Moran said there is now a different level of dialogue in the Senate, following the mass protests after the George Floyd incident. Elected officials are much more serious in the way they are dealing with racial disparity and racial circumstances now in the nation, he said.
“I think this is a seminal moment in American history in which things change,” Sen. Moran said.
Wearing masks
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control with the University of Kansas Health System, said he had traveled by car to Colorado, where he noticed that many people were wearing masks, unlike Florida last week. Many stores and restaurants there are requiring customers to wear masks. Countries that require masks have had a lower infection rate, he said.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer of KU Health System, advised people to wear masks. He had a question for those who resist wearing a mask: Would they be comfortable if the doctors and nurses preparing to operate on them weren’t wearing masks? Of course not, he said. People should feel the same way about wearing masks outside with COVID-19 still a risk, he added.
“This is not a political issue,” Dr. Stites said. “The politicization of wearing masks is a sin.”
He also said the health system has enough personal protective equipment to handle a surge in patients.
“If you want to help us, wear a mask when you’re out in public,” Dr. Stites said.
Clusters or outbreaks
Kansas reported 178 clusters on Friday morning, with 91 of them active, resulting in 5,964 cases and 191 deaths. Eighty-seven of the clusters were closed or inactive.
An increase in deaths was seen in long-term care clusters, where there were 62 more cases and 12 more deaths statewide since Wednesday, according to KDHE figures.
The state’s clusters included:
• Corrections: 4 clusters (2 closed), 1,025 cases, 7 deaths
• School – Daycare: 3 clusters, 11 cases
• Gatherings: 19 clusters (11 closed) 214 cases, 14 deaths
• Group living: 6 clusters (4 closed) 55 cases, 3 deaths
• Health care: 7 clusters (5 closed) 59 cases
• Long-term Care: 43 clusters (22 closed) 873 cases, 146 deaths
• Meatpacking: 12 clusters (1 closed), 3,051cases and 15 deaths
• Private industry: 84 clusters (41 closed) 674 cases, 6 deaths
To view the KU doctors’ news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/897634944070255/
Test sites are listed on the Wyandotte County website at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19
The state’s COVID-19 test page is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/280/COVID-19-Testing
The UG’s COVID-19 information page is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-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.