A slightly higher number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System today. 36 patients are being treated for the virus, up from 35 yesterday. 10 of those patients are in the ICU, down from 11 yesterday. Five patients are on ventilators, same as yesterday. Doctors hope to keep the numbers steady or even decrease as we head into the weekend.
Royals team physician and health system orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vince Key joined the discussion on the day of the team’s home opener to talk about how different major league baseball looks this year. Also, doctors answered community questions.
Dr, Key says the Royals have been planning how to keep players, coaches and staff safe at the stadium since the pandemic began in March. He says it’s been challenging with several players already contracting the virus. But with 60 players on the roster, he thinks the team will be able to continue the season safely. He says the team hopes to avoid an outbreak like the one that forced the Miami Marlins to put their season on hold after 17 players got the virus. He also said all players, coaches and medical staff are taking a saliva test for COVID-19 every other day. He explained player education has been vital. Most players have not brought their families to town and they have avoided eating out together in restaurants after games. He described how the clubhouse has been reconfigured to allow social distancing with masks required and explained that the dugout is a lot bigger than it looks on TV, with plenty of room for players to keep their distance out of camera range. He says the Royals will stay safe by being responsible.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, says the saliva testing being used by the Royals won’t replace the gold standard nasal swab test, but it’s much easier for a large group and is how the University of Kansas will be able to test 20 to 25-thousand people returning to campus this fall. He also addressed an 8th grade viewer’s question about how eating in a school lunchroom is different than eating in a restaurant or bar. He says the cafeteria can be safe with proper distancing and mask wearing. He also says he’s planning to have his children attend in-person classes and ride the bus to school because he’s convinced the schools have taken the right steps to stay safe. He answered the question about whether face shields alone would be safe in the classroom by saying masks are still necessary. He says seeing athletes wearing masks will help the general public do so.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer of The University of Kansas Health System, urged viewers to watch the Royals pregame show tonight at 6:30 to see him virtually throw out the first pitch to Dr. Hawkinson. He says the only way we all get back into the stadium to see the Royals in person is to wear a mask and follow the infection prevention rules so we bring the numbers back down. He believes the sooner we all keep each other safe, the sooner we’ll get back to normal.
Monday, August 3 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. Dr. Raghu Adiga from Liberty Hospital, Dr. Larry Botts from Advent Health Shawnee Mission and Dr. Mark Steele from Truman Medical Centers/University Health update their surge and how hospitals are being impacted. They’ll be joined by Dr. David Wild, VP of Performance Improvement for The University of Kansas Health System.
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.
