The University of Kansas Health System had a steady weekend as far as COVID-19 patients. As of today, 17 patients are being treated for the virus, up from 15 on Friday. 5 of those patients are in the ICU, same as Friday. Doctors say the hospital continues to have new admissions for COVID-19 as well as those who have recovered going home.
Widow Susan Robare joined the discussion to talk about her life one month after her husband got sick from COVID-19 and died and what she wants the community to know. Also, Anthony Nickens and his mother Maxine joined the conversation about surviving COVID-19 and how they’re feeling now. They join Dr. Stites and Dr. Hawkinson.
Susan Robare’s husband George Bernard Robare was a corrections officer at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas. Family and friends called him Bernie. He contracted the virus during a big outbreak among inmates and staff. She describes the timeline of events. On April 22, Bernie complained of the worst headache he ever had and a fever that Tylenol would not bring down. Susan isolated him in their home, taking strict personal precautions while caring for him. On April 28, he said he needed to go to the hospital and on May 3, he had to be put on a respirator. Bernie died on May 11. Susan described the effect it’s had on her family, including the postponement of their daughter’s wedding, scheduled for early May. Some days Susan feels like screaming when she sees people who ignore the rules and wants to tell them and everyone that you don’t know who you’re going to infect and to please take this seriously. She says no family should have to go through this because they chose not to follow the health precautions.
Anthony Nickens and his mother Maxine live in the same house with other family members. Anthony recalled feeling symptoms in late March, and after a test showed he had the disease, he quarantined at home. Maxine says she was nervous at first while caring for Anthony, but then she and her daughter developed symptoms, and tested positive. That’s when she said she “realized it’s for real.” She described the same symptoms as others, a bad headache and high fever. The three of them managed to survive without having to be hospitalized, and Anthony was able to return to work after being symptom-free. She wants others to know that COVID-19 is “sneaky,” and you don’t know where it is. She says nobody is exempt.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System reminds us that 30-35 percent of COVID-19 patients never have symptoms, which he says is scary because it’s hard to tell who may be spreading the disease. He says those who spread the virus can do so for 1-2 days before showing any symptoms. He addressed questions of why one person in a family may get it and others may not. He explaned even though it seems older people with underlying conditions are most at risk, it can infect people of all ages…and right now there’s no way to predict who will and will not get it.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at the health system, said we’ll know in a couple of weeks whether the disease was spread by any of this weekend’s protesters on the Plaza. He said it appeared some did wear masks, but it also appeared many did not, and were not practicing proper social distancing. He also shared a graphic illustration of cell phone data showing how far people from the Memorial Day weekend parties at Lake of the Ozarks have traveled since then. At least one person from that gathering has tested positive, and the worry is many more will too. He says not to succumb to the disease by either partying or trying to do something socially active without taking the necessary precautions.
Tuesday June 2 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. On the heels of the first 3&2 baseball tournament over the weekend, Medical Director of Youth Sports Medicine Dr. David Smith together with KSHSAA Executive Director Bill Faflick and Operations Manager Brent Unruh answer questions about youth sports. How well did the tournament do following new guidelines? What did you learn from this first public tournament? Does my child really need a sports physical this year? How do I do that safely? What is a good checklist for teams to play safely together. They join Dr. Stites and Dr. Hawkinson.
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