Joe Reardon, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, said the best way to help local businesses is to wear a mask and practice health measures.
Reardon, also a former mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, said if people wear their masks, socially distance and practice hygiene, they can help COVID-19 rates to decline, which is the best way to keep businesses open.
It’s also the best way to get back to some sense of normalcy with school, he added. He made his remarks during a news conference Tuesday morning at the University of Kansas Health System. The fluctuations in the school schedules don’t always work with business, he added.
The Greater Kansas City Chamber recently was working together with the KU Health System, which coordinated a chief medical officer’s video broadcast two weeks ago. The video helped many people in the community recommit to fighting COVID-19, he said.
“We have about 2,000 members that care about their employees,” Reardon said. “They want to keep their employees safe and they want to keep their employees working. The best thing we can to do support that is to wear a mask and be cautious.”
That protects the employees there and the business, he said.
“We want it to be safe, as safe as we can be. That really speaks for all of us, it means we all have to make a personal commitment to this.”
The most supportive thing people can do for businesses is to wear a mask and socially distance when shopping, according to Reardon.
Reardon said the Greater KC Chamber is now advocating for adoption and funding of the Mid-America Regional Health Council’s Regional Public Health Action Agenda for Regional Capacities for Testing and Tracing. It is a coordinated effort by public health across the region for testing and tracing sustained over time to control the spread of the virus, he said. They are advocating for counties to consider putting some CARES Act funding toward reducing the spread of COVID-19.
“We believe that sets us on a path for economic recovery next year that will be really critical for all of us in Kansas City,” Reardon said.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 22 acute COVID-19 patients on Wednesday morning, with six in the intensive care unit, an increase from four on Monday, and one on the ventilator, and five who were in the recovery period still on the ventilator, said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. There were 35 patients in the hospital who had COVID-19 and are out of the acute phase.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 36 cases on Tuesday, for a cumulative total of 6,400 COVID-19 cases, according the Unified Government COVID-19 website.
There were an additional three deaths reported, for a cumulative total of 129.
Testing offered Wednesday
Free pop-up testing for COVID-19 is scheduled to take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Judson Baptist Church, 8300 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The test is through the Health Equity Task Force and Vibrant Health.
Free COVID-19 testing is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the Health Department parking lot, 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas, weather permitting.
Check with the UG’s website, Health Department Facebook page or call 311 to see if there are any changes in the schedule. Information about testing is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/3555151144504330.
The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The KDHE active cluster list is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas.
The Unified Government COVID-19 hub outbreak map at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/.
To see an NEA list of schools that have had COVID-19 cases, visit https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=aa3f2ede7cb2415db943fdaf45866d2f.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The Unified Government Health Department is collecting input on people’s experiences getting tested for COVID-19 in Wyandotte County. The survey is on the UG website at https://us.openforms.com/Form/ea97a450-3d74-4d86-8d1f-6e340d55cf7c.
The UG Health Department new school and sports guidance is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/09042020fallsportsrecommendations.pdf.
A previous UG sports order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/08132020localhealthofficerorderregardingsports.pdf.
The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.