A slight drop today after yesterday’s record number of COVID-19 patients being treated at The University of Kansas Health System. 37 patients are hospitalized, down from 40 yesterday. 14 patients are in the ICU, down from 18 yesterday. Five patients are on ventilators, down from 6 yesterday. 31 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase. That’s the same as yesterday. In addition, HaysMed has 19 total COVID-19 inpatients today, up from 21 yesterday, with 1 of those patients in the recovery phase.
On today’s Morning Media Update, we answered media questions, new questions from the community and questions we didn’t get to during the week. Amanda Gartner, director of quality and safety, joined Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System and Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System.
Here are the media and community questions in the order the panel addressed them, followed by the short answer. See the video for their full answers and comments.
- Can we really bend the curve and bring it down to lower levels if kids are back in school and bars open? Schools are OK because mask wearing and social distancing are controlled. Bars and restaurants, where spacing and masking are not as controlled as schools, are very high risk.
- How safe will it be to vote at the polls? Very safe because of the controlled environment and infection prevention measures in place.
- Does a college student who works in a store where everyone wears a mask need to wear one around his family? No, if the worker can maintain proper distance from the customers and limit each interaction to 10 minutes.
- What would normal patient capacity be for hospitals this time of year if not for COVID-19? Usually full this time of year with normal fall illnesses and people wanting to have elective surgeries before the end of the year. COVID-19 puts a strain on the system.
- Are there any silver linings to this pandemic? Are we advancing technology or medicine or industry? Everything feels so bleak. Many silver linings. Vaccine development within a year is remarkable. Clinical trials of monoclonal antibodies to prevent COVID-19 has potential to be “game changing. Rapid development of telehealth as an alternative to in-person doctor visits. Also created an amazing spirit of cooperation among Metro hospitals, which are usually seen as competitors.
- Will there be a point in the future where I might get a COVID-19 anti-viral pill at a drugstore? That’s the hope for several medicines in development, similar to taking Tamiflu to fight flu symptoms.
- How do we handle college-age kids coming home for Thanksgiving? It depends on their behavior at school. Best to be a little cautious at first and wear masks until everyone appears symptom-free.
- Some places are offering curbside voting. Is that safe? Yes.
- If people show minor symptoms on election day, but don’t know if they’ve been exposed to COVID-19, is it safe to go to the polls? Yes, but wearing a mask is key. It’s proven to keep from spreading infection to others.
- Since Kansas does not require masks while voting, how can you be sure it’s safe? Polls are controlled environments. Workers are required to wear masks, and all are required to social distance. If you wear a mask it will make all safer.
- Are we safe six feet apart with these breath clouds you speak about? Look at your own breath cloud on a cold day. You can see it dissipates after about six feet. It also depends on your level of activity and the airflow.
- If our son was exposed to COVID-19 at work, does that mean we grandparents shouldn’t visit our grandchildren? We miss them so! It’s best for all if the son quarantines for 14 days, and as hard as it is, grandparents have to resist the temptation to visit during that time.
- Can you address large versus small droplets and how long they hang in the air? I’m confused about the CDC accumulative breath clouds. The droplets are so small we can’t see them. If there is no airflow, the larger droplets hang in the air longer.
- It seems like a lot of doctors are not testing younger children so how are we able to know the actual spread among kids? Not testing is not the best practice. The more people tested the more the disease can be slowed.
- Other than being safe and carrying the pillars of infection prevention and control with us, what can we do to support healthcare workers? Can’t do more than observing the pillars of infection prevention. Thank you for thinking of us!
Monday, November 2 at 8:00 a.m. is the next morning media update. We will take time to answer questions from the community.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants:
For those without Zoom, call 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.