The University of Kansas Health System reports the numbers are all rising when it comes to COVID-19 patients today. 34 are hospitalized, up from 31 yesterday. Nine patients are in the ICU, up from 8 yesterday. Six patients are on ventilators, up from 4 yesterday. 27 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase. That’s up from 24 yesterday. In addition, HaysMed reports 14 inpatients with one in the non-infectious but recovering phase. Doctors say with schools opening, sporting events and the holiday season, the next few months could be a “bumpy ride,” as numbers are currently going up all over the Metro area.
Halloween month officially began today and that scares a lot of healthcare leaders who worry about the spread of COVID-19. Haunted houses are especially worrisome. Our guest was Spencer Terry, general manager of the Fear Factory in Salt Lake City, Utah. Spencer is also a board member of the national Haunted Attraction Association. He joined us live from Utah with a list of precautions and questions to consider before you decide to trick or treat and visit the local haunts.
Fear Factory made national news for being the first haunted house to open in the country for its annual half-way to Halloween event back in May. One-thousand patrons attended with no traceable COVID-19 cases to-date. The pillars of infection prevention and control appear to play a big part in this success story so far. Spencer Terry said they learned a lot of lessons in how to make haunted houses safe, which was their top priority. He says COVID-19 threw them a curve ball, and they had to re-design everything about “how we scare to the types of scares.” He developed a 60-page plan for the Fear Factory that 5000 other haunted attractions around the world are using as well to keep employees and customers safe. Among the changes are decreasing the capacity by 50%, though it means a big drop in revenue (“It is what it is,” says Terry), timed ticketing, 20 staff members monitoring inside the house at all times to keep the patrons socially distanced and specially made masks with extra layers to “help create monsters who can be scary and still safely protected.” He said, “The world sometimes forces us to slow down. We must learn how to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves, but more broadly, find ways to take care of our community.”
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, said we can still safely take our kids trick or treating with a few extra precautions. He said masks for everyone are vital. He said you should go with people inside your own social bubble and stay six feet apart. He’s not concerned about the brief interaction at houses in collecting candy, noting it’s the airborne droplets that spread the disease, not touching a piece of candy. He’s more concerned with neighborhood house parties and larger gatherings, but says outdoor Trunk or Treat events, where kids go from car to car in a parking lot collecting candy, can be safe as long as the cars are far enough apart and everyone is wearing a mask.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, answered a viewer question about why different web sites often show different COVID-19 numbers on any given day. He also discussed whether the virus is mutating and noted there’s no evidence of that. He says we can still have fun, like with Halloween, we just have to do things a little differently. He says there is still joy out there, even in the time of a pandemic.
Friday, October 2 at 8:00 a.m. is the next morning media update. Tomorrow, Dr. David Wild returns. He’s done a deep dive into our health system inpatient numbers and the story it tells is concerning. We’ll explain tomorrow and answer community questions.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
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For those without Zoom, call 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
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