As more people go out in public with the easing of some of the stay-at-home orders and as hospitalization and case numbers showed a slight decline Tuesday, doctors at the University of Kansas Health System said that people still will be susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, which is still here.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health Services. said as people are out in public, some of them may or may not be doing social distancing, wearing a mask and practicing good hygiene. People are very susceptible to the virus, and plans have to be made for more infections, as restrictions are lessening, he said.
On Tuesday morning, KU Health System reported 25 inpatients with COVID-19, with 10 of those patients in the intensive care unit, Dr. Hawkinson said. It was a decrease of three from Monday. The doctors hoped to keep those levels and not see a surge with the reopening.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, said it still comes down to personal responsibility, and people have to stay home when sick, wear a mask when they go out, socially distance, cough into their elbows, wash hands and practice good hygiene.
Dr. Hawkinson said people should wear a mask in public, especially when not able to be 6 feet away from each other, and for more than 10 minutes’ exposure to others.
Dr. Stites said that people should not be thinking that COVID-19 happens only to other people. “Those, they and them” are used to characterize others, but people have to be careful, he said. “COVID-19 does not care about ‘those-they,’ it’s a great equalizer,” he said.
COVID-19 is here, whether people realize it or not.
“Be cautious as you go back into the world and think it’s not there,” Dr. Stites said. “It is there.”
He said people are likely to see another surge in the numbers after reopening.
Dr. Hawkinson also reported the blood drive held at KU Health System last week for the Community Blood Center resulted in 266 units donated, over the 225-unit goal. He urged people to contact the Community Blood Center at https://savealifenow.org/ and give blood.
This week, residents were able to do a few more things than previously, as Wyandotte County currently is in the “red zone,” having come out of the “stay-at-home” order on Monday. The “red zone” is similar to the “stay-at-home” order, with a few restrictions lifted. The details of the WyCo ReStart plan are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/restartwyco.
Wyandotte County gets a D-plus for distancing
Are people here still social distancing?
One website issues grades for counties and states on social distancing. The United States is getting an “F,” and Kansas also got an “F,” while Wyandotte County got a “D-plus” this week on Unacast.
The Unacast website uses cell phone data and other data to determine grades for areas. Johnson County received an “F” from Unacast, and Leavenworth County also received an “F.”
Testing continues
Testing for COVID-19 continues today in Wyandotte County, with a pop-up test scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Roswell Church of Christ, 2900 Roswell Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
On Wednesday, testing will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the New Bethel Church and Forest Grove Baptist Church, 745 Walker Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
Also, testing continues in the afternoons at the Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann. For more testing sites and information on who may be tested, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
COVID-19 case numbers
Wyandotte County reported 1,083 positive COVID-19 cases at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 12, an increase of five cases since Monday. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported Wyandotte County at 1,095 cases on Monday morning.
There was one new COVID-19 death since Monday morning in Wyandotte County, for a total of 65 deaths. Hospitalizations on Tuesday declined by five, to a total of 35, according to the Unified Government Health Department COVID-19 webpage.
The UG’s COVID-19 website identified a new outbreak site in Wyandotte County as the Legacy Warehouse, 233 S. 42nd St., Kansas City, Kansas, with five cases; the last known case was reported May 8, according to the website.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the Johnson County Health Department reported 607 positive cases, with 54 deaths and 162 inpatient hospitalizations, on its webpage. On Monday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 611 cases in Johnson County.
On Monday, Leavenworth County had 939 positive cases, according to the KDHE. Leavenworth County had two large clusters of cases, one at the Lansing Correctional Facility and one at the Grossman Residential facility. The Leavenworth County COVID-19 page stated that there were 737 LCF inmates who tested positive, and 42 Grossman Center positive cases. Positive COVID-19 inmates in other facilities in Kansas were brought to the Lansing Correctional Facility and placed in a positive COVID-19 ward there.
There were no statewide cases reports on Tuesday, as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has shifted its epidemiologists’ time to working with local health departments, and will update cases on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now, according to an announcement.
To see more of the doctors’ responses at the KU Health System news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=2633261700266080&ref=watch_permalink.
More information about the “red zone” rules is online at the ReStart WyCo hub at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/restartwyco.
The ReStart WyCo plan is at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/RestartWYCOGuidanceDocument043020.pdf.
Several Wyandotte County pop-up testing sites are listed at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The UG’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The Kansas COVID-19 website is at https://covid.ks.gov/.
The Kansas COVID-19 resource page is at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus
Information from the CDC is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/.
