COVID-19 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Increase reported in COVID-19 cases

COVID-19 vaccines were available to the public on Wednesday at the Red Barn at the Wyandotte County Fair. Vibrant Health was administering the shots. More opportunities for vaccines can be found at WycoVaccines.org. (Photo by Steve Rupert)

Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System are very concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, reported that KU hospital saw a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning. There were 37 active COVID-19 patients, up from 29 on Wednesday, he said. The hospital had a total of 44 COVID-19 patients, an increase of five from Wednesday.

Dr. Hawkinson noted that all area hospitals are seeing a rise of mostly unvaccinated patients.

Six of the health system’s 37 COVID-19 patients are vaccinated, but all six had severe co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, heart and lung disease, blood cancer and other conditions causing immunosuppression, according to Dr. Hawkinson.

It is frustrating that the rest of the patients are unvaccinated, he said, because vaccines make it a preventable disease.

The vaccines are “life saving and preventive measures that people still don’t want to take for one reason or another, whether it’s politicized, unfortunately, because nobody should die for their political views,” he said. “Whether it’s still feeling like it’s an experiment, whether there’s those misinformation campaigns about infertility, which are completely false, there are various reasons. But none of those reasons are good enough to override the general fact that these vaccines prevent you from going to the hospital, prevent severe illness and death.”

The recent surge in the Midwest is caused by the lessening of restrictions and the lack of vaccinations, especially in rural areas, he said.

Those who get vaccinated while on chemotherapy don’t have the optimal antibodies and t-cell response and need to continue wearing a mask and social distancing, Dr. Hawkinson said. He added that vaccinated people have a significantly reduced chance of transmitting the virus to others.

Free COVID-19 vaccines available

COVID-19 vaccines will be available at the Monarchs baseball game at 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 16, at Legends Field. Those vaccinated will receive a gift and be eligible to enter a raffle to win a 20-person suite at a future baseball game.

The Unified Government Health Department’s central vaccine location at the former Kmart store, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, will be open to those age 12 and older from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. Walk-ins will be accepted. For more information, see WycoVaccines.org.

Mobile vaccines can still be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311).

Other sites available for vaccinations

Free vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. 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.

There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacies, which are now also accepting walk-in vaccinations or appointments, and are starting vaccinations for age 12 and up at those pharmacies that are giving Pfizer vaccine (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/).

CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/. Walgreens and Walmart also were listed on www.vaccines.gov as giving vaccinations.

Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations. There were more than 50 vaccine sites listed within 25 miles of one Wyandotte County Zip Code.

Case numbers reported

There were 37 active COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System, an increase of eight from Wednesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. Nine patients were in the intensive care unit, an increase of one from Wednesday. Four patients were on ventilators, an increase of two since Wednesday. Seven other patients were hospitalized because of COVID-19 but were out of the acute infection phase, a decrease of three from Wednesday. There were a total 44 COVID patients, an increase of five from Wednesday.

Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 19,415 cases on Thursday, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 300 deaths reported, the same as Wednesday.
On Wednesday, July 14, the Unified Government Health Department reported that 37.42 percent of Wyandotte County residents had received at least one dose of vaccine. Those completing their vaccinations totaled 32.49 percent.
The percentage of Wyandotte County residents who were age 12 and older who had received at least one dose was 46 percent.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 177,303 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Thursday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 77.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 322,264 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, July 14, an increase of 1,155 since July 12. There was a total of 5,196 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of eight since July 12.
The KDHE reported 60,901 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Johnson County on July 14, an increase of 304 since July 12. Leavenworth County had 7,497 cases, an increase of 55 since July 12. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 58,494 cases, an increase of 113 since July 12.

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday night reported 33,974,299 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 608,387 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 31,845 new cases nationwide and 331 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were Texas, 5,066; California, 2,566; Missouri, 2,255; Arizona, 1,945; and Louisiana, 1,936.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were Brazil, 57,736; Indonesia, 54,517; United Kingdom, 42,183; India, 41,733; and U.S., 31,845, according to Johns Hopkins information.

Free testing available

Free COVID-19 testing is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 16, at the UG Health Department’s central location, the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Free gift cards are available to those who get a test.
Besides Health Department sites, free COVID-19 testing is available at several locations in Wyandotte County.

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 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://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.

The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. There are more test sites listed on this page.

Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.

The University of Kansas Health System morning media update is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/2812046135682667.

The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.

Seeing more of a return to normal with vaccinations

While the pandemic has been devastating to people and changed their lives, Rep. Sharice Davids said Tuesday that she is starting to see a return to normal with vaccinations.

People are starting to be able to hug their families again, she said at the Tuesday morning news conference at the University of Kansas Health System.

“Things are starting to feel a little more like normal…the sun’s coming through the clouds here,” Rep. Davids, D-3rd Dist., said.

Federal update

When asked what she was most proud of, she said it was the COVID-19 relief bills from the federal government for businesses and individuals.

She does not think that the data shows unemployment benefits are keeping people at home and away from work, and said the assistance has been a lifeline for many people.

Rep. Davids has been working to keep telehealth alive, as it has been vital to those in smaller communities during the pandemic. It won’t be possible unless people can access it from home, and since broadband internet access is critical, she is also working to expand it.

She also said she felt that getting vaccinated was setting a good example, and she urged everyone to get vaccinated.

State update

With the Kansas emergency declaration expiring on June 15, Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of health, said Tuesday morning that the effects of the expiration will be mostly unseen by the public. The Legislature allowed the state of emergency declaration to expire.

“It doesn’t mean the virus has magically gone away,” Dr. Norman said. Kansas is still recording about 100 new COVID-19 cases per day, with one to three deaths every day, he said.

“If we had one to three deaths per day from something else that was preventable, there would be rioting in the streets,” Dr. Norman said.

About 50 percent of Kansas residents are fully vaccinated, but the state probably won’t reach the president’s goal of 70 percent by July 4, he said.

Last weekend was the 500th day of the state’s emergency operations. When the state emergency order is lifted, contact tracing and vaccinations will still continue, he said. The state will lose its National Guard troops helping with the COVID-19 efforts, however, he said. Then they will probably use contract nurses to continue the work, he added. The state may have to use services like FedEx or UPS for transporting.

They are sorting out the situation and will present a plan to the governor, he added. The state will receive federal monies for vaccination and testing regardless of the state of emergency, he said.

While he was glad to see schools starting to ramp up vaccinations, he felt masks will still be necessary in classrooms. CDC guidance states that unvaccinated people should wear masks, and that would apply to the 420,000 Kansas children under 12 who have no approved vaccine yet, he said.

All of the virus variants, including the ones found in hot spots in rural Missouri, can also be found in Kansas, Dr. Norman said. Wastewater testing and air sampling allows the state to find out where the virus is currently.

Dr. Norman said the COVID-19 vaccines are not experimental. With more than a billion doses safely given, the vaccines are some of the most tested products in modern history, he said.

“The fact it doesn’t have full FDA approval, and they will, the fact that they don’t, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s experimental,” he said. “I think that conjures up something that’s maybe not intended, but I think it is used occasionally to dissuade people. But this is really not an experiment, it’s a very well-established vaccine.”

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said that vaccination is the way out of the pandemic.

He said the Race to End COVID-19 last weekend at the Kansas Speedway offered incentives to getting vaccinations, and it resulted in 166 vaccinations and 240 tests, Those who need a first or second dose of the vaccine may call the health system at 913-588-1227 or may visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine.

Spike model

Also at the media update Tuesday morning, Dr. Paul Camerata, a neurosurgeon at the KU Health System, showed a 3D model of a spike protein that was produced at the health system. It will be used to teach students about COVID-19 and spike proteins. The model looks different from the usual artist’s pictures of the coronavirus.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, explained where the model spike protein was attached to the viral surface, showed where it interacted with the ACE2 receptor, and showed the area where antibodies would work against the virus.

Free walk-in vaccinations available

The former Kmart store site at 7836 State Ave. will be open for free walk-in vaccinations for everyone 12 and older from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9.

The Health Department is holding mobile vaccination clinics at schools this month. A free mobile vaccination clinic will be at Sumner Academy, 1610 N. 8th St., from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 9. It is open to the public. Anyone over age 12 may be vaccinated. Walk-ins are welcome. Minors must be accompanied by parents or guardians. There also will be free food boxes, free COVID tests and free cleaning supplies available. For more information, see https://fb.me/e/bGmhW1vnN.

People may also schedule vaccinations at WycoVaccines.org. Residents may request rides to the vaccination clinic through a form on the same website.

The Unified Government Health Department vaccination hours changed recently. To see the schedule and more information about vaccinations, visit WycoVaccines.org or https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

Those who receive COVID-19 vaccinations are asked to consider bringing an ID to make the process go faster.

The Health Department is doing more mobile COVID-19 vaccinations, and people may request vaccines to be given at different sites in the community by going to WycoVaccines.org and clicking on “mobile vaccine request.” People also may request a ride to vaccination sites on the same page.

Those who wish to schedule an appointment may use the Health Department’s self-scheduling tool at WycoVaccines.org and click on a blue button that says, “Click here to schedule an appointment online.” The page is available in Spanish by clicking at the top of the page. Walk-in appointments also are welcome.

Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date.

To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schdule, visit WycoVaccines.org.

Other sites available for vaccinations

Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. 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.

Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations.

Case numbers reported

Dr. Hawkinson reported the COVID-19 case numbers at the University of Kansas Health System were slightly higher on Tuesday morning. Five active COVID-19 patients were being treated at the hospital, an increase of one from Monday. One patient was in the intensive care unit, no change from Monday. There have been no patients on ventilators since May 24. Six other patients were still in the hospital, but were out of the acute infection phase, no change from Monday. There were 11 total COVID-19 patients, an increase of one from Monday.

Wyandotte County reported an increase of 14 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, June 8, for a cumulative 18,892 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 299 deaths reported, no change from Monday.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 175,225 cumulative, COVID-19 cases on Tuesday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 37.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 315,099 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Monday, June 7, an increase of 244 cases since Friday, June 4. There were a total of 5,100 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of 16.

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday night reported 33,390,562 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 598,323 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 15,496 new cases nationwide and 324 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were North Carolina, 1,297; California, 1,196; Texas, 1,175; Washington, 832; and Louisiana, 796.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were India, 86,498; Brazil, 37,156; Argentina, 22,195; Colombia, 21,949; and U.S., 15,496, according to Johns Hopkins information.

Free testing available

Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 9, at the Vibrant Health Cordell D. Meeks Jr. Clinic, formerly Children’s Mercy West, 4313 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. This test is in conjunction with the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force.

Free COVID-19 testing will be offered from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 9, at the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. This is the Health Department’s central site.

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://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.

The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. There are more test sites listed on this page.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/235722611692972

The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.

A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.

Half of Kansas adults vaccinated fully

More than half of Kansas residents 18 and older are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to Gov. Laura Kelly, many of the state’s residents still need to get vaccinated.

“I’m pleased at our state’s consistent progress in getting shots in arms – but we still can’t take our foot off the gas,” Gov. Kelly said in a recent news release. “Every Kansan must get vaccinated to protect our communities, our schools, and our economy from future outbreaks, and maintain our steady return to normal.”

To date, the CDC reports that 50% of Kansans 18 and older have been fully vaccinated, and 59.9% of Kansans 18 and older have been vaccinated with one dose. Additionally, 38.5% of all Kansans are reported as vaccinated, with 46.9% of Kansans having received one dose.

“While vaccinating half of all Kansans 18 and older is a significant milestone, hospitalization rates among young people are rising nationwide. It’s critical that all Kansans age 12 and older get vaccinated,” Gov. Kelly said. “Health experts continue to demonstrate a thorough, deliberate review process when it comes to vaccines, making safety the number one priority in vaccine approval. The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and free – I encourage all Kansans to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated.”

At the University of Kansas Health System news conference Monday morning, Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said Kansas is doing better than many states, but could be doing a lot better.

He said during a discussion that the demand is down because everyone who wanted the vaccine has had it.

He lamented that there is still a lot of hesitancy and gave the example of a recent patient in his clinic who said he didn’t want the government telling him what to do. He said that thinking is based on opinion and not science. He asked those who don’t believe in coronavirus because they haven’t had it if they believe in AIDS or cancer because they have not had those either.

Right now anybody 12 and older should get vaccinated, he said.

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, said he’s not sure the United States will reach the 70 percent by July 4 national vaccination goal set by the president.

Currently, the KU Health System is discussing new approaches to get more people vaccinated, he said.

He said this has been “a year of absence, unlike any other, that has to be one of the hardest things we’ve all experienced collectively.” He urged people not to bury their heads in the sand and say, “It’s not going to get me,” and to recognize that the way out of this crisis is the same way they’ve been able to conquer polio, smallpox and other deadly scourges of mankind and, that’s through vaccination.

Free walk-in vaccinations available

The former Kmart store site at 7836 State Ave. will be open for free walk-in vaccinations for everyone 12 and older from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8.

The Health Department is holding mobile vaccination clinics at schools this month.A mobile vaccination clinic will be at Bonner Springs High School, 100 McDanield St., from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 8. It is open to the public. Anyone over age 12 may be vaccinated. Walk-ins are welcome.

People may also schedule vaccinations at WycoVaccines.org. Residents may request rides to the vaccination clinic through a form on the same website.

Those who receive COVID-19 vaccinations are asked to consider bringing an ID to make the process go faster.

Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date.

To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schdule, visit WycoVaccines.org.

Other sites available for vaccinations

Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations.

Case numbers reported

Dr. Hawkinson reported the COVID-19 case numbers at the University of Kansas Health System were lower on Monday morning. Four active COVID-19 patients were being treated at the hospital, a decrease of two from Friday. One patient was in the intensive care unit, a decrease of one from Friday. Six other patients were still in the hospital, but were out of the acute infection phase, no change from Friday. There were 10 total COVID-19 patients, a decrease of two from Friday.

Wyandotte County reported an increase of 19 COVID-19 cases on Monday, June 7, for a cumulative 18,878 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 299 deaths reported, an increase of one since Friday.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 174,848 cumulative, COVID-19 cases on Monday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 39.

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Monday night reported 33,377,696 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 597,949 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 5,395 new cases nationwide and 251 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were California, 653; Texas, 539; Arizona, 507; New York, 507; and Colorado, 374.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were India, 100,636; 39,637; Colombia, 24,050; Argentina, 16,415; and U.S., 5,395, according to Johns Hopkins information..

Free testing available

Free COVID-19 testing will be offered from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, at the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. This is the Health Department’s central site.

The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. There are more test sites listed on this page.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/235139578013402.

The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.

A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.