The number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System is steady today. 24 people with the active virus are being treated, the same as Friday. Of those patients, nine are in the ICU, down from 11 on Friday. Five of those patients are on ventilators, down from nine Friday. Ten other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, up from nine Friday. That’s a total of 34 patients, up from 33 on Friday. HaysMed has two active patients, the same as Friday.
On today’s Morning Media Update, two Girl Scouts from Troop 921 at St. Elizabeth Parish in Waldo joined us with their troop leader. They did a special video project about COVID-19 safety to earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award.
Reagan Hawes-Keener (on the left) and Mary Jane Van Dyke are two fifth grade Girl Scouts who had an idea. They wanted a fun way to get the word out that even after you get your vaccine, you still need to wear a mask and keep others safe from COVID-19. They could make a poster, but realized that a poster would only be in one place. So they decided to make a public service announcement video, which could be seen anywhere on YouTube. They enlisted their fellow Troop 921 scouts and came up with this video. It took about 20 hours to shoot and edit and has received rave reviews from their Girl Scout council leaders. They said they were inspired by their parents and teachers and explained that many of their friends and their families had caught the virus over the past year. They noted that kids do a lot better than adults when it comes to wearing a mask. Their biggest message from the video is to stay safe and wear your mask the right way.
Annie Redd has been one of their troop leaders since the girls were in kindergarten, and says they are all full of wonderful ideas for projects. She explained that the Bronze Award is the third highest award in Girl Scouts, and why it’s such a major accomplishment. She says the project must identify a problem in the community and come up with a solution which must be sustainable, meaning it can’t be just a “one and done thing,” and this video certainly fits that description. She also explained how the video is just one of the troop’s efforts. Other girls organized letter writing to nursing home residents and prayer baskets to connect isolated members of their church and community. She described how the girls learned a lot about planning and leadership, which will serve them well in the future. She’s really proud of them for the way they came up with an idea to think beyond themselves.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, notes that COVID-19 patient numbers in the health system have been steady in the 20’s and hopes easing mask mandates won’t make those numbers go back up. He urges everyone to get vaccinated, especially those under 50 who may have been hesitant, saying that they are proven safe and effective. He said the reason we’re not seeing 70 and 80-year-old COVID-19 patients anymore is most all have been vaccinated. He said it’s safe for those with peanut allergies to get the vaccine. He also pointed out that in the long haulers clinic, 200 patients have been treated so far, with 20 percent of those needing help from one or more specialists.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, says the Pfizer vaccine may get emergency use authorization for kids 12-16 by the end of the month, which he thinks is vital for keeping schools open this fall. He also feels an annual COVID-19 booster will be necessary for some time to come, especially with all of the variants out there. He says the current vaccination rate in the world is too slow, and says we’re starting to see the vaccine becoming available in doctors’ offices, including those at the health system, which he says will be necessary for getting more people vaccinated.
Tuesday, May 11 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. We continue our look at the impact on mental health when Justin Hoover, Executive Director of the Battle Within checks back in with Adam Majors, Frontline Therapy Networks clinical coordinator. We're going to talk about how patients are screened for services and how mental health professionals are holding up.
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