After the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, the number of COVID-19 patients being cared for at The University of Kansas Health System stayed the same. 20 patients are being treated for the virus, same as on Friday. 6 of those patients are in the ICU, down from 8 on Friday. Doctors say the steady numbers are encouraging but it’s too soon to know if the opening of society is having any effect on the spread of the disease. They say we should know more in a week, as that will be about the 14-day incubation period of COVID-19.
The first thing the panel commented on was what Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System called “irresponsible” behavior of all the people seen crowded into the Lake of the Ozarks without masks over the holiday weekend. He said it’s true people are being encouraged to get outside, but without proper social distancing and wearing a mask, the disease can spread like wildfire among people in close contact like that. He doubts many of those people will self-quarantine for 14 days, as recommended, which may lead to a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks.
Also joining the panel, KU Chancellor Dr. Doug Girod and Athletic Director Jeff Long to talk about the challenges COVID-19 presents on campus and with college sports.
Dr. Girod says it was a lot easier to shut down the KU campus in the spring than it will be to reopen in the fall. He says they are looking at all aspects of campus life, from living spaces to classrooms to common areas, to keep the 25,000 students and staff safe. He says it won’t be a typical opening, and classes will look a lot different as well. Masks will most likely be required for everyone. He explained the campus will be ramping up testing, dorm contact tracing and they have set aside a facility for quarantining. He described how the university is working closely with the city, county and business communities to do things right, slowly and safely. He says postponing graduation especially impacted Lawrence businesses. A campus librarian reminded Girod that during the flu pandemic of 1918, the whole city of Lawrence was closed…nobody got in or out, so he says KU has been through this before and will get through it today.
Among the biggest questions for Jeff Long is when will people be able to watch football and basketball at KU? He says they are cautiously planning for the first football game in Memorial Stadium on September 5 and should know more in a couple of months about fan participation. In the meantime, he says they are following all of the NCAA guidelines and advice from Kansas Team Health in bringing back student athletes, who have been in virtual contact with coaches during the pandemic. He says June 15 is the first date voluntary on-campus workouts will be available, July 1 is when fall sports teams will be allowed to start working together and July 15 is when men’s and women’s basketball will be able to resume their programs. He says all staff members must wear masks, have their temperature taken daily and the same will be required of all student athletes upon their return to campus. He says they’ve received donations of masks from sponsors.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, said we are in a new day and age, and wearing masks should be thought of as a way to protect society, not ourselves. He explained in countries where masks are not required, the number of cases goes up about 40 percent a week compared to two percent a week where they are required. He talked about knowing when to put them on and take them off. He agreed with the panel that it’s hard to tell someone who’s not wearing a mask that they should be and said unlike the Japanese, with their high smog content, there is not a culture of acceptance of masks yet in this country. He also addressed the number of deaths of those COVID-19 patients who don’t have preexisting conditions, and what nursing homes, where a large number of deaths have occurred, should be doing.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at the health system, says some people think they’re invincible or none of this is real, and is just being overblown. He says it gets real when you lose someone you know. He says it’s not a political matter, but a public safety and personal responsibility matter. He explained the world will not end, and eventually a vaccine will end the pandemic. He says as long as we take personal responsibility together, we will get through it together.
Wednesday, May 27 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. David Smith, MD, Youth Sports Medicine Medical Director and KSHHAA Advisory Committee Member joins the panel to talk about new guidelines recommended for youth sports. Royals trainer Nick Kenny teams up with team doctor Vincent Key, MD, to offer pro tips for keeping young athletes at their peak emotionally and physically during a pandemic, plus debate if now is when athletes including weekend warriors should get procedures/surgeries they’ve been putting off?
ATTENTION media members- procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants:
For those without Zoom, call 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.