Since the majority of students have returned in person to the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, there have been a few COVID-19 cases, according to school district officials.
The cases resulted in some large numbers of quarantined students at the Carl Bruce and Eisenhower middle schools, Dr. Alicia Miguel, interim superintendent, said at the Tuesday night Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education meeting.
Dr. Miguel added that there is great compliance with the school district’s mask mandate in all the schools, among all the age groups.
Three students tested positive at Carl Bruce school, including two students in the seventh grade and one in the sixth grade, Dr. Miguel reported. The first two did not appear to be linked, and the third had a known COVID positive patient in the household.
The health personnel and staff of the district did contact tracing in the cases, she said. There were 163 students who were in quarantine, she said. At this time, none of the quarantined students or staff have tested positive, she added.
Eisenhower Middle School had six positive cases, she said. So far, no cases have spread inside the student population, she added. Two of the cases had household family members who were positive, and other cases are not believed to be related, she said.
None of the quarantined students and staff reported positive in any of the cases, she said.
Elizabeth Morris, health services coordinator for the school district and a registered nurse, works closely with the staff to identify possible contacts. The process usually starts with a phone call from a nurse that a student has been identified as positive, she said at the school board meeting. Then they get in touch with the lead COVID nurse. They find out information about the classroom, if the student rides the bus and goes to after-school activities.
Then they gather the classroom seating carts, she said, and check them. They find out if students stayed with the class seating chart. Sometimes kindergarten students don’t stay with the chart, she added. Most of the other elementary classes stay in their seats, in small pods, she added.
If the positive student rode the bus, the staff needs to find out how many days they rode it, and who they sat next to, she added. Middle school has many classroom changes, and they need to find out how many students were within the six-foot distance. It is usually five to six in each classroom.
When there are positive cases, an extra nurse is sent to assist with supervising, and there also may be additional nursing assistants sent who go through seating charts, make phone calls, and watch kids waiting to be picked up because they are quarantined, she said.
Identification of persons exposed on the bus is a challenge, and it relies on video identification, Morris said. It takes hours to go through the videos and see who was within six feet for 10 minutes or longer, she added.
The schools have test kits provided by the Health Department, she said. The nurses encourage testing of students who have been exposed or who have symptoms, and if the students decline, the students will have to stay home for 10 days. The district’s policy has been based on Health Department recommendations, she added.
Seventeen percent of students who tested positive had no symptoms at the time of the test, and 83 percent had symptoms, Morris said.
If a child has any symptoms, the school asks the parent to keep the child at home and get tested, she added.
Dr. Miguel said she shared the example of the two middle schools because they had the most cases in the district. There were many students who had to be kept at home until they could do the tracing, she said. She said the district asked the Health Department if the two schools should be closed, and they said absolutely not.
Dr. Miguel said the district’s older high school students were vaccinated last week. At this time, anyone 16 and older can get a free vaccine. The school district had about 250 students who volunteered to receive a vaccine, she said. Younger students had to get parental consent.
The district now is in conversations with the Health Department to send mobile vaccination units to the five district high schools, she said. Vaccinations would be for students and their families, anyone who wanted it, she said. Vaccinations would be after hours, she added. It will help schools return to as normal as possible and be safer in the summer and fall, she said.
On Tuesday, after the emergency use authorization was extended to students 12 and older, the district started having conversations about vaccinating middle school students 12 and older. A tentative plan is to vaccinate students on the last week of school, then have them come back on a day during summer school to get the second dose. As soon as they have more details they will be sharing them, she said. They also want to encourage families to get the vaccine.
She said the staff will be there at mobile vaccination clinics for support. School is a place where they can feel welcome and safe, and come with the whole family to get a vaccine, for those 12 and older, she added.
Free vaccinations available Wednesday
Free walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations will be available for everyone over age 16 from noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, at the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.,
Free vaccinations also will be available from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday May 12, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th (18th and Ridge), Kansas City, Kansas.
The former Best Buy, 10500 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas, will be closed on Wednesday.
The schedule of vaccinations is changing this week. To see the new schedule and more information about vaccinations, visit WycoVaccines.org or https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
The Health Department will be doing more mobile 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.
UG Health Department vaccinations are now open to people from other counties and states. People may walk in for vaccinations or can schedule them.
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 schedule, visit WycoVaccines.org.
Other sites available for vaccination
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.
There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacy at 76th and State Avenue, and 81st and State Avenue (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/), and Medicine Shoppe pharmacy at 65th and Parallel by appointment when available (see https://www.facebook.com/The-Medicine-Shoppe-Kansas-City-281548241870522).
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/.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov.
Case numbers reported
KU Health System reported an increase in the number of patients on Tuesday. There were 25 patients with the active virus being treated, an increase of one since Monday. Nine of the patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Monday. Four patients were on ventilators, a decrease of one from Monday. There were 13 COVID-19 patients who were out of the acute infection phase, an increase of three from Monday. There were a total of 38 patients, an increase of four since Monday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 11 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, May 11, for a cumulative 18,599 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 292 deaths reported, no change.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 171,876 cumulative COVID-19 cases.. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 58.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 310,927 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Monday, May 10, an increase of 345 cases since Friday, May 7. There were a total cumulative 5,016 deaths reported statewide, the same as Friday.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday night reported 32,779,153 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 582,848 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 36,231 new cases nationwide and 399 new deaths nationwide.
States with the highest number of new cases were North Carolina, 3,753; Michigan, 2,987; Texas, 2,715; Florida, 2,296; and California, 2,166.
Countries with the highest number of new cases were India, 329,942; U.S., 36,231; Brazil, 25,200; Iran, 18,408; and Argentina, 17,381, according to Johns Hopkins information.
Free testing available Wednesday
Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th, Kansas City, Kansas. For information about UG Health Department COVID-19 testing sites and hours, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. To see if there is any change to the schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept. Appointments are not needed.
One of the WellHealth sites for free COVID-19 testing is open beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 12, at Lowe’s at 6920 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Appointments are required. For more information, to see other testing sites and to make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.
Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays at the Vibrant Health Cordell D. Meeks Jr. Clinic, (formerly Children’s Mercy West), 4313 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. No appointment is needed. People can get tested regardless of symptoms or exposure.
The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. Their 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 COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/292961702392386.
A weekly vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.
Information about the new mask ordinance passed April 29, which loosened restrictions in Wyandotte County, is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/updatedwycomaskorder04302021.pdf. The new mask order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/amend-lho-may-6-2021.pdf.
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.