Tag: COVID-19

Kansas reports 213 new COVID-19 cases, Wyandotte County reports four more deaths

Wyandotte County reported 16 more cases and four more deaths on Tuesday. (From UG COVID-19 website)
Kansas reported 5,458 cases on Tuesday in 82 counties. (KDHE map)
New cases were in blue and total cases in yellow in this chart from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. (KDHE chart)

Kansas reported an increase of 213 COVID-19 cases today, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

In all, the state had 5,458 total cases, according to KDHE.

Wyandotte County reported four more deaths, for a total of 64, and 16 new cases, for a total of 893, at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Unified Government Health Department webpage. Hospitalizations went from 34 on Monday to 40 on Tuesday.

There was an increase of 12 recoveries in Wyandotte County on Tuesday, from 168 to 180.

The UG COVID-19 website hub reported that there were four more deaths from the Riverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation facility in Kansas City, Kansas, bringing the total to 36.

Riverbend has a total of 132 positive cases, including 105 residents and 27 employees, according to the UG Health Department. Three residents are currently hospitalized.

The University of Kansas Health System reported a slight decrease in Tuesday’s numbers of COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized from 31 on Monday to 30 on Tuesday. There were 14 patients in the intensive care unit, a decrease of one from Monday.

Wyandotte County testing delayed by rain

Testing at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann was postponed on Monday because of rain and thunderstorms, according to a Health Department social media post.

Several pop-up testing sites are being added. To see the schedule for COVID-19 tests in Wyandotte County, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR1rglc9COHzY9u6aR_F4_PhZAA0TPkwp8FJKwatMQMEnEOLMDm7HdWz3zo.

Mother’s Day plans

Wyandotte, Johnson and Jackson counties are under stay-at-home orders during Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-10, and individuals are supposed to stay in their household groups, according to the Wyandotte County reopening plan.

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said in discussing whether families should get together for Mother’s Day, May 10, if they are not already living in the same household, they should consider who is now in their circle. If people have been regularly visiting with or meeting with their moms throughout this time, it would probably be OK to go to visit them on Mother’s Day, while if they have not seen them for a few months, it could introduce COVID-19 into their family.

The doctors also discussed other topics, such as going swimming. According to the stay-at-home rules in Wyandotte County, groups from different households are not supposed to meet together.

When discussing whether it was safe to swim in a swimming pool, Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said he didn’t fear a droplet of the coronavirus getting into the swimming pool, with chemicals and chlorine in it, and causing an infection.

He said the danger from swimming pools, restaurants and bars is that people may congregate around that area, too close together. While adults generally can maintain a distance of six to eight feet, some children may find it harder.

In the next phase, the “red zone” possibly beginning May 11, the Wyandotte County reopening plan stated that residents should not congregate with others who are not members of their immediate household, and exercise had to be distanced with 10 or fewer persons.

“Just because we’re opening society up, does not make it safe to be in big groups,” Dr. Stites said.

The doctors said as society reopens, it will still be important to practice good hygiene, wash hands, stay six feet away from others, cough into your sleeve, don’t touch your face, don’t go out when you’re sick, and clean off frequently touched surfaces.

Third state inmate death reported

The third COVID-19 related death was reported Monday, May 4, of a resident of the Lansing Correctional Facility.

According to a news release from the Kansas Department of Corrections, the resident who died was a male over 50 who tested positive for the virus on May 1. He was transferred to Providence Medical Center on May 1.

KDOC lists the official cause of death for all COVID-19 deaths as natural causes.

The individual was serving an 85-month sentence for charges including aggravated indecent liberties with a child, lewd fondling or touching; child less than 14. He had been imprisoned with the Kansas Department of Corrections since July 2018. For the privacy of his family and due to confidentiality laws, the KDOC will not release his name nor his underlying medical conditions, the news release stated. His family has been notified.

State case counts in other counties

On Tuesday, according to the KDHE, Leavenworth County reported a total of 602 cases, an increase of 73 cases from Monday. Johnson County reported 513 total cases, an increase of nine cases from Monday, according to the KDHE.


Eighty-two counties reported positive cases on Tuesday, according to KDHE, and some of them included: Ford County (Dodge City area), 869; Seward County (Liberal area), 606; Finney County (Garden City area), 518; Sedgwick County (Wichita area), 411; Lyon County (Emporia area), 265; and Shawnee County (Topeka area), 133.


Douglas County (Lawrence area) reported 51 cases, and Riley County (Manhattan area) reported 55 cases, according to the KDHE.

To see the KU doctors’ news conference, with more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/853144635186197/.

The UG’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

The Wyandotte County reopening plan, a 41-page document, was posted Thursday night at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/RestartWYCOGuidanceDocument043020.pdf

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/.

Wyandotte County looks to economic recovery

Views
Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

A 25-member committee, formed by Mayor David Alvey and including business leaders, is helping Wyandotte County adjust to changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. K. Allen Greiner, the Unified Government’s chief medical officer, issued a continuation of the stay-at-home order, effective until midnight May 10. At that time, if data allows, Wyandotte County will enter the “red zone” of the “Restart WyCo Road to Recovery.” If all goes well, Wyandotte County will move through the “yellow zone” and, later on, the “green zone.”

Mayor Alvey was quick to admit that the pandemic “has caused enormous hardship on families and businesses in our community.” He said it will be important to gradually restore and reopen the economy in the right way.

The “red zone” of the restart effort relaxes the stay–at–gome requirements, but recommends the highest level of caution for vulnerable persons. The “yellow zone” relaxes stay-at-home requirements even further while allowing more businesses to open under caution. The “green zone” is the least stringent with few restrictions. Details of the restart can be found at www.wycokck.org/COVID-19. These zones are similar to ones proposed by Gov. Laura Kelly.

The Unified Commission, meeting Thursday night, April 30, learned that the pandemic could cost the local government as much as $35 million this year and as much as $22 million in 2021. A large loss will come from lack of sales tax; two major contributors, Nebraska Furniture Mart and Legends Outlet, have been closed for several weeks.

County Administrator Doug Bach said, despite this loss, he does not anticipate a mill rate increase in local property taxes. The Unified Government has implemented a hiring freeze except for critical positions such as police and fire.

Mike Taylor, the lobbyist for the Unified Government, said Congress is debating how much the federal government will help state and local government. He said the state of Kansas is estimated to lose $1.2 billion as a result of the pandemic.

Taylor said the speaker of the House, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) wants to give state and local government $1 trillion; however, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the majority leader of the Senate, suggested that states go bankrupt. Taylor said a compromise of about $500 billion could be a possibility.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.

Six COVID-19 cases reported at KCK Amazon distribution center

Six positive COVID-19 cases have been reported at the Kansas City, Kansas, Amazon distribution center at 6925 Riverview Ave., according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 website.

According to the UG Health Department website, positive cases at Amazon were first identified to the Health Department on May 1.

One employee at the Amazon distribution center said today that he had minor symptoms and was going in for testing . He said now he will have to self-quarantine for two weeks.

He said he did not feel that workers were being given the truth. An employee there had been notified about April 22 of a positive status but other employees were not notified until around 10 days later, he said.

The employee said many workers did not show up the next day after receiving a notification about one positive case on Friday, May 1.

Amazon has posted statements about its handling of COVID-19 cases on its website at https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/how-amazon-prioritizes-health-and-safety-while-fulfilling-customer-orders?token=GW&utm_content=COVID-19_safety&utm_medium=card&utm_source=gateway&utm_term=gw04272020. The company stated there that its top concern is the health and safety of its employees. It is providing personal protective equipment and implementing safety procedures, according to the website.

There are a number of other COVID-19 outbreaks throughout Wyandotte County. One other that had not been previously reported is at MWI Animal Health, 2450 Midpoint Drive, Kansas City, Kansas, which had five cases reported April 29 and 30.

The UG webpage lists places where there have been five or more cases in Wyandotte County. The Health Department works to provide guidance on the use of personal protective equipment, isolating positive cases, providing guidance on social distancing and workflow, and ensuring that other symptomatic persons there are tested, according to the UG COVID-19 website.

To view the UG’s COVID-19 webpage with outbreak information, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/ and scroll down.

This story has been updated.