A slight drop in the number of active COVID-19 patients being treated at The University of Kansas Health System today. 87 people with the active virus are hospitalized, down from 89 yesterday, and down from the record high 102 earlier this week. 46 patients are in the ICU, same as yesterday. 30 of those ICU patients are on ventilators today, up from 28 yesterday. 68 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, same as yesterday. That’s a total of 155 patients, down from 157 yesterday. In addition, HaysMed has a total of 32 COVID-19 inpatients, down from 37 yesterday, with 22 of those active patients and 10 in the recovery phase.
Doctors say they are just beginning to see some patients who were infected at Thanksgiving gatherings. They expect more in the coming week since hospitalizations usually follow infections by about 10-14 days.
On the Morning Media Update today, we know that this is the holiday season and a lot of you want to shop. We know local merchants need you to shop and we heard from several of them on creative ways they are working to keep everyone safe and stay open. We'll also hear from the KCK Chamber of Commerce. The panel also answered community questions. And Bethan Piggot, who has been a nurse for just two years, has spent the last 8 months caring for COVID-19 patients in the ICU. She shared a gripping story.
The pandemic has been tough on small locally owned businesses, but many have found creative ways to stay open for the holidays. Matt McInnes, owner and chief executive officer of McInnes Group, Incorporated, explained how he formed OWNKC, an online store for Kansas City branded masks, hats, shirts and other apparel. The best part is he’s donating 100% of the proceeds to local charities.
Katie Mabry van Dieren, owner/curator of the Strawberry Swing Holiday Market, found a way to move the event outdoors at Union Station, allowing for open air shopping with local artisans, food trucks and more. She explained how everyone will answer health screening questions and only 150 people at a time will be allowed in while wearing masks and keeping socially distant.
Joe Gauer is co-founder of the River North Business League where they are taking a different approach to safety and supporting local merchants. COVID-19 caused cancelation of Snake Saturday in the northland this year, which he says is like Black Friday for merchants in that area. So many of them are putting together crates, which are 50-100 dollar gift boxes, packed with various items from their specialty shops, and will start selling them Monday at rivernorthkc.com.
Daniel Silva, President and CEO of KCK Chamber of Commerce, explained why supporting local businesses is so important and had advice on how to do that.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at the health system and Amanda Gartner, director of quality and safety answered media and community questions. Here are the questions in the order the panel addressed them, followed by the short answer. See the video for their full answers and comments.
- How do you feel about different counties in the areas taking different approaches to the new CDC guidelines recommending quarantine periods of 7-10 days rather than 14 days? The panel is leery of shorter quarantine periods.
- What do we know about symptoms and side effects from the new vaccines? Still waiting for official trial data. Some study participants report mild fever and muscle aches at the injection site.
- Why, when there are so many therapies to treat COVID-19 patients, are so many people still dying? Because this is a bad disease. Just like with cancer and heart problems, there are therapies, but people still die. It’s remarkable that therapies and vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed so quickly.
- Instead of being reinfected, is it possible patients are just testing positive after no longer shedding the virus and only think they have been reinfected? It is possible to test negative with a PCR test, then test positive the next week.
- Will healthcare professionals be well enough to work during the couple of days after receiving the vaccine? Waiting for official CDC guidance. If they experience a mild fever, which some study participants have reported, they should stay home until the fever is gone.
- Early estimates were that 80% of the population would have zero or mild symptoms of COVID-19. With so many being hospitalized and dying, has that percentage changed? Estimates were that 80% would not need to seek medical care. That still holds true. But that remaining 20% who do need care is still a very large number given the number of infections.
- Can my bubble include my mom if she only visits me and returns to her condo? It all depends on where else she goes and who she interacts with.
- Can I walk outside with someone who has already had COVID-19 and feel safe without a mask? It’s still best to wear a mask and keep socially distant.
- Our family is doing a two-week strict quarantine to spend Christmas together indoors. Should we still mask at Christmas when together eating and opening gifts? Maybe OK if you can trust that everyone strictly followed the quarantine.
Monday, December 7 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. We begin our weeklong in-depth discussion on COVID-19 vaccines from research and side-effects to effectiveness and distribution. We have an impressive panel of guests starting with the Chair of Internal Medicine, Dr. Matthias Salathe and Dr. Kevin Ault, OBGYN and member of the CDC Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
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.