The University of Kansas Health System reached a sobering milestone today with a record-shattering number of COVID-19 patients. 100 people with the active virus are hospitalized, a leap from 78 on Friday. 46 patients are in the ICU, jumping from 34 on Friday. More than half of those ICU patients are on ventilators, 26 today, up from 21 Friday. 39 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 47 Friday. That’s a total of 139 patients, up from 125 Friday. Doctors also report a few deaths over the weekend. In addition, HaysMed has 39 total COVID-19 inpatients with 3 of those patients in the recovery phase, up from 35 Friday. Doctors say the high number of hospitalizations follows the surge in community cases in the last few weeks.
On the Morning Media Update today, KCK Mayor and Chief Executive Officer of the Unified Government David Alvey joined to discuss masking efforts in the community.
(video here)
Mayor Alvey says it’s going to take a combination of government control and personal responsibility to stop the virus from spreading. “If people would just simply comply,” he says, “we could turn the tide.” He adds “It’s too bad people expect the government to solve the problem by enforcement.” He says they are trying to avoid fines to those who don’t comply with mask orders, but admits the reality is there are not enough personnel to enforce the measures and it’s up to individuals to do the right thing. He explained why the hour of 10 p.m. was chosen as a closing time for bars and restaurants. He says all elected leaders need to understand the urgent message from hospitals about running out of space, and noted recent studies showing those communities with mask mandates have fewer cases of the disease. He says too many are resisting the fact that the virus is here, and it is the enemy, not our fellow citizens, adding he’s seeing more people get upset when they see others not complying. He urges us to each think about one another and believes we should each act as if we have the disease and don’t know it. He says during this holiday season, we should neither give nor get the virus.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, believes things are going to be different a year from now. He says those who don’t wear a mask right now are not doing so because they’ve read the scientific data, they simply don’t want to do it. He says we need all of the vaccines from each of the different manufacturers because no one company can make enough to treat the whole population. He says those who test positive should have some immunity for an unknown time, but that’s no reason to not wear a mask and follow the pillars of infection prevention. He believes masking will continue until a majority of the population is vaccinated. He says up to 40 percent of people with no symptoms are spreading the virus without knowing they have it. He feels it’s unfortunate we’ve had so many cases before Thanksgiving but says by continuing to wear masks we will make a difference.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health system, says, “We are on fire in the Midwest,” and adds the one way to put out that fire is to follow the rules of infection control. He says it’s concerning that about a third of the current health system patients are from outside the Metro area, showing how much the virus is spreading in rural America. He says that increased surge of COVID-19 patients will make it harder for non-COVID patients to receive their vital care because in addition to beds, hospitals will soon run out of doctors and nurses specially trained to take care of ICU patients. He reminds us, “We have this shared humanity where we’re all in things together, but for some reason we want to fight simple logic and truth. It’s odd to me because it’s a fool’s wisdom that takes us on a journey that says masks don’t work when there is so much evidence that proves that they do.”
Tuesday, November 24 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. KMCO Mayor Quinton Lucas joins the call to update the virus spread and look at masking on the other side of the state line.
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.