The number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System is lower today. Four patients with the active virus are being treated, down from six Friday. Of those patients, one is in the ICU, down from two Friday. Six other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, the same as Friday. That’s a total of ten patients, down from 12 Friday. HaysMed reports one recovering patient, after having one active and one recovering patient Friday.
On today’s Morning Media Update, Dr. Kenny Southwick, Executive Director, Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City returned to talk about what the change in mask guidelines means for area schools, and he peered into the future for summer sports and getting back to school in the fall.
To begin today’s discussion, we heard what students at Ruskin High School are thinking at this stage of the pandemic. When the CDC changed masking and distancing guidelines, it unnerved a lot of folks including high school students at the same time they were presented with the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Dr. Southwick described all the work being done earlier this spring by area schools to prepare for safe proms and graduations. But then the CDC relaxed masking and distancing guidelines, which changed a lot of those plans. He called the guidelines confusing. One district that was supposed to have graduation outside had to move indoors because of rain, and inside of the packed gym, the superintendent reported only 15 or 20 people were wearing masks, which Dr. Southwick says was “a little bit alarming.” He pointed out that “we didn’t just flip a switch with COVID-19 and now all of a sudden everything is okay.” He believes all the proms and graduations went well with no reported COVID-19 outbreaks. He’ says they’ll closely monitor summer school classes, and the goal is to have all area students attend classes in person this fall, though some parents may still elect remote learning for their kids. His organization is working with schools on a campaign to encourage vaccinations, but he’s worried some parents will think everything’s okay now and not get their kids vaccinated. Despite the slow vaccination rate among schools, he says vaccines are the way back to a normal school year. He stressed that, “We can’t afford to lose another school year where kids aren’t in classrooms with their teachers and with their friends.”
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, points out that vaccinations may be the best incentive for those who want to participate in school activities like sports or debate if they don’t want to be held out because of a positive COVID-19 test. As for swimming pools this summer, he says they should be safe for young, unvaccinated children since they are outdoors, and we know you don’t catch the virus from the pool itself. He reports that about 50 percent of adult Kansans are fully vaccinated, which is better than many states, but says we could be doing a lot better. He says the demand is down because everyone who wanted the vaccine has had it. He laments that there is still a lot of hesitancy and gave the example of a recent patient in his clinic who said he didn’t want the government telling him what to do. He says that thinking is based on opinion and not science. He asks those who don’t believe in coronavirus because they haven’t had it if they believe in AIDS or cancer because they have not had those either. He says right now anybody 12 and older should get vaccinated.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, is not sure the U.S. will reach the president’s goal of 70 percent vaccination by July 4th. He says behind the scenes, the health system is discussing “a fairly novel approach to try to get more people vaccinated,” and advised viewers to stay tuned. He says this has been “a year of absence, unlike any other, that has to be one of the hardest things we’ve all experienced collectively.” He urges us not to bury our heads in the sand and say, “It’s not going to get me,” and to recognize that that way out of this crisis is the same way we’ve been able to conquer polio, smallpox and other deadly scourges of mankind and that’s through vaccination. He adds, “Let’s make the year of absence a memory and not a future.”
Tuesday, June 8 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. U.S. Representative Sharice Davids from Kansas and KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman will join our discussion.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
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