Wyandotte County remains under the “red zone” of the reopening plan on Monday, May 18, with some stricter requirements than other nearby communities.
While some other nearby communities are getting haircuts at reopened barber shops and hairstylist shops, dining inside restaurants and going shopping at nonessential retail stores, Wyandotte County has not approved that for the “red zone” currently in effect. A decision has not yet been made when the county can enter the next stage, the “yellow zone,” but it will not be before May 25, according to local officials.
In Wyandotte County, in the “red zone” people may order items by phone or online at nonessential stores and go inside to pick them up, but not browse in the store. Restaurants may provide curbside service, but not inside dining.
The ReStart WyCo “red zone” plan states that people should “always wear a mask in public.” The plan is online at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/restartwyco.
At 8:30 a.m., the UG COVID-19 webpage reported 1,163 confirmed cases, 70 deaths and 30 patients hospitalized. According to the website, there were 355 recoveries.
At 1:50 p.m. Sunday, the UG COVID-19 webpage reported 1,154 confirmed cases. There were nine more cases reported at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The number of deaths and hospitalizations was the same.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 15 COVID-19 patients, a decrease from 18 on Friday. Eight COVID-19 patients are in intensive care, down from nine on Friday, according o Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System.
The KU Health System was seeing about 20 to 30 COVID-19 patients as its usual amount in the past week, and Dr. Hawkinson said he hoped numbers stay down.
Dr. Hawkinson said he had a little anxiety over seeing a lot of people out in public this past weekend. While some were social distancing, others were not. He was concerned and said that people should maintain social distancing, wear a mask, frequently wash their hands and not touch their faces.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said he picked up a carryout food order this weekend and found that customers inside were not distancing and not wearing masks. He advised people to maintain social distance and wear masks.
The doctors also reported on the KU School of Medicine program that sent more than 50 doctors out into the state to help communities with the COVID-19 crisis.
Two newly graduated doctors who participated said they helped county health departments do contact tracing and administer tests to patients. Their locations included communities that were hard-hit by positive cases in meatpacking plants, including Dodge City, Kansas.
Testing continues Monday in Wyandotte County
According to the UG’s COVID-19 hub, testing locations for COVID-19 include:
• 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the UG Health Department parking lot, 619 Ann Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
• 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at Swope Health, 21 N. 12th St., Suite 400, Kansas City, Kansas. Call 816-923-5800 to schedule an appointment.
Several pop-up testing sites are planned this week. Wyandotte County residents may call 913-371-9298 to register for a test.
Monday’s pop-up location:
• 2 to 6 p.m. Monday, May 18, All Saints Parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The KU doctors’ news conference may be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/.
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.
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/.
The number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City metro area is listed at a website sponsored by the Mid-America Regional Council at http://marc-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/1c93961075454558b3bf0dfad014feae.