The numbers of active COVID-19 patients keep dropping at The University of Kansas Health System. 43 people with the active virus are hospitalized today, down from 50 on Friday. 10 patients are in the ICU, the same as Friday. Five of those ICU patients are on ventilators today, down from eight Friday. 60 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 55 Friday. That’s a total of 103 patients, down from 105 Friday. In addition, HaysMed has a total of 12 COVID-19 inpatients, down from 16 Friday, with four of those active patients and eight in the recovery phase.
The doctors credit both an increased mask culture and vaccinations for some of the lowest numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations since late November.
On today’s Morning Media Update, The Presidents and CEOs from the Kansas and Missouri Hospital Associations joined the group. Chad Austin from Kansas and Herb Kuhn from Missouri shared the pandemic’s impact on hospitals on both sides of the state line. They also discussed the impact of President Biden's health agenda on KS and MO, plus how COVID-19 is affecting the appetite and status of Medicaid expansion in both states.
Chad Austin says it’s been a roller coaster ride for the 122 hospitals across Kansas beginning with capacity and PPE at the start of the pandemic to staffing and now vaccine supply. He says there is reason for optimism as more and newer vaccines become available. He says the hospitals continue to vaccinate their frontline workers and look forward to reaching out to get their communities vaccinated as well. He also notes he’s been working with the surrounding states to coordinate vaccine efforts and is confident the vaccine supply will be much better in the next 30-60 days. He also believes there’s enough vaccine on hand for everyone who got their first dose to get the second. He’s noticed hospitalizations across Kansas are down.
Herb Kuhn feels Missouri hospitals and across the country have gotten the Mike Tyson treatment. Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” And he says hospitals have been punched in the face many times. But he’s glad to see hospitals, doctors, nurses and others have punched back. They have been very adaptable and learned new ways to handle patients in order to get us to where we are today, especially in the rural areas. He feels with vaccines we’re really going to be able to punch back hard. He calls the plan by the Federal government to vaccine 100 million people in 100 days “ambitious,” and says the challenges of moving that much vaccine will continue until the supply increases. His organization recently polled 800 people across Missouri and found 58% of the residents said they were likely or very likely to get the vaccine. Given it will take about 75% to achieve herd immunity, he says there’s a lot of education work to do to bridge that gap. He’s encouraged by the trend in cases and noted that last week, for the first time since late October, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Missouri went below 2000.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, has a warning for those wanting to attend a big Super Bowl party next Sunday to cheer for the Chiefs: Don’t do it! He says it could be especially problematic if the party is with co-workers as COVID-19 could sideline an entire office. He also said it’s not a good idea to get a different manufacturer’s vaccine for your second dose. He feels COVID-19 will not simply go away after a few years and like the flu and common colds, the virus will always be with us. He believes it will change each year and we’ll need to adapt an annual vaccine to deal with it. He says we’re not out of the woods yet, but things are looking better.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, says the virus does not take time off for the Super Bowl and neither should we. The rules of infection prevention still apply, even after receiving the vaccine, since it’s still possible to pass the virus on to others. He said we share a common community, and it doesn’t matter where you come from, just get vaccinated. He reminds us that pretty soon, we’re all going to be able to be vaccinated and start getting back to life as we remember. But for now, we must follow the rules of infection control, and as he stressed, “Wear that darn mask!”
Tuesday, February 2 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. Dr. Stites rolls up his sleeve again to get his second dose of the Moderna vaccine live on the air. Also, KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman is back to answer questions about the vaccination rollout.
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