COVID-19 case numbers were not increasing as much on Thursday, May 14, in Wyandotte County as previously.
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System news conference were asked on Thursday why the COVID-19 virus is still spreading after people have been at home for more than a month.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the KU Health System, said people have still been moving around. Some of them went to work, he said.
It doesn’t take much for one person to get the virus, then spread it when they didn’t know they had it, Dr. Hawkinson said. COVID-19 is capable of being spread a few days before symptoms show up. It is very efficient in spreading from one person to another, he added.
Dr. Raghu Adiga from Liberty Hospital, who participated in the Thursday news conference from KU Health System, said it is a highly transmissible virus and doesn’t take much to spread.
He said some of the other areas of the world had stricter social distancing, including Wuhan, and stopped the virus’ spread for a while. The stricter lockdown approach was not practical in many areas of the world, including the United States, he added. Eventually, society has to stop social distancing, and it is possible to see new cases.
Dr. Mark Steele from Truman Medical Centers – University Health said social distancing isn’t perfect and not everyone is practicing it, which allows this infection to occur.
According to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, COVID-19 only needs one person to spread it. A complete lockdown of society isn’t practical, and personal responsibility in following health guidelines plus a vaccine and treatment are important. As society reopens, how people act will define them for the future.
The doctors also discussed the Kansas City, Missouri, reopening plan, which allows restaurants to open on May 15. Wyandotte County restaurants are under a “carryout” or “curbside” service only during the “red zone,” without any dine-in service.
Dr. Steele said he would be very aware of the numbers of people in the building, the establishment and social distancing. He would like to see employees wearing a mask, and he would wear a mask as much as he could, except when eating his food.
Dr. Hawkinson said he has always been a proponent of contact tracing, and lists of customers and their contact information is a part of the Kansas City, Missouri, plan. As other areas have opened up, there has been a greater chance of the virus spreading.
He said he thought that dining outdoors, where people are more spread out, would be safer, as well as wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer right before eating. It is still safer to order takeout food and dine at home.
Dr. Stites said he would feel safer if there weren’t very many people in the restaurant, the employees were wearing masks and people were using hand sanitizer. There will be a calculated risk in going back out. He said he is optimistic, in general.
Dr. Larry Botts of Advent Shawnee Mission Health System said restaurants will have tables and seats spaced at least 6 feet apart in Johnson County. He said he was optimistic and looking forward to being able to go out. Dining outside will be an advantage, he added.
Dr. Hawkinson said there were 21 COVID-19 patients at KU Health System on Thursday, one less than Wednesday, with nine of the patients in the intensive care unit. The number of COVID-19 patients has been declining this week at KU Health System. There have been a number of discharges.
Other hospitals participating in the news conference reported fewer cases.
Wyandotte County reported 1,113 positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday morning, with 66 deaths and 35 hospitalizations, according to the Unified Government Health Department COVID-19 webpage. There were 23 more cases reported compared to Wednesday, with no new deaths and the same number of hospitalizations as the previous day.
Johnson County reported 619 positive cases on Thursday, according to the Johnson County Health Department website. The number of deaths was unchanged at 54.
Leavenworth County reported 950 positive cases at 5 p.m. Wednesday, an increase of 11 community cases. The Leavenworth County Health Department reported 169 community cases, 42 cases at the Grossman Center and 739 cases at Lansing Correctional Facility. There have been six deaths.
Testing continues today
Testing for COVID-19 continues today in Wyandotte County, with a free pop-up test scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. at Cross-Lines Community Outreach, 736 Shawnee Ave.
Also on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., testing will be at La Fe en Jesu Cristo, 1500 Central Ave., Swope Health.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, pop-up testing is scheduled at Zotung Christian Church, 5041 State Ave.
Also, testing continues in the afternoons at the Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann. Testing may be affected by the weather. For more testing sites and information on who may be tested, call 311 or visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
To view the KU doctors’ news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1488566801302826/
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/.