A total of 33 COVID patients are being treated at The University of Kansas Health System today, down from 35 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 5 with the active virus today, 5 yesterday
- 1 in ICU, 1 yesterday
- 1 on ventilator, 1 yesterday
- 28 hospitalized but out of acute infection phase, 30 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr Amber Schmidtke, Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at The University of Saint Mary
- Kansas and Missouri shifted to endemic phase of pandemic. Does not mean pandemic is over, just that the disease level is below the threshold for epidemic
- While COVID is down overall across the country, starting to see a dramatic increase in cases and hospitalizations in the Northeast
- COVID doesn’t stand still, so we must be vigilant, especially with travel season and fewer mask restrictions
- The virus is not out of our lives yet. We must make decisions on how we control the virus as compared to letting it control us.
Jeff Wenzel, Bureau of Environmental Epidemiology, Missouri Health Department
- For the last two years, the Missouri Health Department has been collecting wastewater samples around the state looking for trends
- Samples are taken over a 24 hour period and send to University of Missouri for analysis
Dr. Marc Johnson, wastewater and COVID researcher, University of Missouri
- Testing has been very helpful in identifying different COVID variants
- BA 2 has been dominant strain for last few weeks in Missouri
- Virus found in wastewater is no longer infectious, but is a very meaningful and accurate reflection of what’s going on in the community
- COVID has forced him to postpone research he had been doing into HIV
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- FDA has given emergency authorization for COVID-19 breathalyzer about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage
- Company says it’s 90% effective in determining positive cases in three minutes
- PCR test is still recommended to confirm results
- Concern about increasing COVID cases in Johnson County. Hospitalizations lag behind new cases by a week to 10 days. Must keep close eye on numbers.
Monday, April 18 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. No masks required just as spring and summer travel season arrives. We know COVID is still here, but what else poses a threat? Protecting yourself on planes, trains and automobiles.
ATTENTION: media procedure for joining:
Zoom link: https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone Zoom link: 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
