A slight increase with today’s numbers of COVID-19 patients being treated at The University of Kansas Health System. 26 patients are being treated for the virus, up from 17 yesterday. 13 of those patients are in the ICU, up from 9 yesterday. So far more than 100 patients treated for COVID-19 have been discharged.
Joining the conversation were KDHE Secretary Lee Norman, MD and U.S. Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas. Dr. Norman says it appears COVID-19 cases peaked in Kansas around April 17-18, as the amount of testing continues to increase. He’s happy with the plan Governor Kelly announced yesterday, with a phased-in reopening of businesses and activities over the next six weeks. He cautions that restrictions may resume if the number of COVID-19 cases goes back up. He says the new normal will have a definite effect on workplace settings, adding that hand shaking is probably a thing of the past. He expects working from home and flexible scheduling will be much more common, and group gatherings at work will cease.
Senator Moran gave an update on the latest aid package for small businesses, which should help Kansas hospitals in less populated areas. He also updated his efforts to bring more testing supplies to the state. He says he’ll be back in Washington next week and outlined what’s next for the Senate in the COVID-19 crisis.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System says while today’s numbers may be up, the overall trend is positive. He says more testing with quick turnaround will be vital to containing the virus. He says sheltering at home is working, but COVID-19 is going to be with us for a long time until there’s a treatment.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the health system, says the new normal of physical distancing, hand washing, not touching your face and coughing into your sleeve will go a long way toward keeping us safe from other more common viruses like the flu. He says it’s great that we’ve bent the curve, but we must all accept that even with society reopened the rules won’t be changing any time soon.
Monday, May 4 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. Bob Page, President and CEO of The University of Kansas Health System and Tammy Peterman, President of the Kansas City Division rejoin the program in the studio. Joe Reardon, President and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce also joins the conversation with Steve Stites, MD, and Dana Hawkinson, MD. The topic? All things business including your health after stay-at-home orders lift.
ATTENTION media members-New procedure for calling in:
The meeting is now 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:
Call Zoom audio, 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.
