The University of Kansas Health System reports higher numbers of COVID patients today. 38 patients with the active virus are being treated, up from 35 on Friday. 15 of those patients are in the ICU, down from 17 Friday. Nine patients are on ventilators, the same as Friday. 14 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 18 Friday. That’s a total of 52 patients, down from 53 Friday. HaysMed continues their increase of COVID patients with nine today, up from eight on Friday.
On today’s Morning Medical Update, Dr. Damien Stevens, a critical care physician at The University of Kansas Health system. He went to New York City in the early days of the pandemic to help overwhelmed hospitals. He compared what he experienced then to what we're seeing now in Missouri and Kansas.
Dr. Stevens remembers what it was like in Queens, New York, where he went for a week at the beginning of the pandemic to help other doctors on the front lines care for the overwhelming number of patients being treated for COVID. He says it was eerie seeing the streets of New York so empty, but shocking to see people jammed into the lobby and waiting areas of the hospital. He remembers family members who had to drop a loved one off at the Emergency Department and never see them again, having to say their goodbyes by phone. He vividly remembers the three freezer trucks parked out front for the bodies. He says in the 450-bed hospital where he was helping, 80 to 90 percent of the patients were being treated for COVID. He described how staff had to convert different areas of the hospital to care for all the COVID patients because all the ICU beds were full. He said in a regular ICU, the nurse to patient ratio is 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 at most. In the hospital where he helped, the usual ratio was one nurse caring for 8, sometimes 10 patients. Dr. Stevens says it’s sad that we’ve gone from worrying about having enough masks back then to now having a preventive vaccine that a significant percent of the population won’t take. He’s also concerned that what happened last year in New York is happening today with the surge in many Missouri hospitals and will soon happen in the Metro without more people being vaccinated.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control, hopes this latest surge in COVID cases, especially in central Missouri and in the metro, may be the motivation for the vaccine hesitant and resistant to finally get their shots. He says when it comes to indoor workouts in a gym, right now it’s better to wear a mask, especially since the CDC has not issued any guidance on indoor spacing. For those who think masks don’t work or are not safe, he says neither is true and the science has proven they are effective, especially for the delta variant. He also strongly stated that stories the vaccine causes infertility are “absolutely false,” and adds, “If it was a physician telling you that, it’s time to change who your physician is.” He also feels you don’t need to be concerned if the COVID test you get at a pharmacy is a self-administered antigen test. For those traveling by plane, he says masking and eye protection is still the best way to stay safe.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, has this advice for those going to the Garth Brooks concert at Arrowhead this Saturday. With 58,000 people there, most singing along with Garth, it’s best to wear your mask, even though you’re outdoors and even if you’ve been vaccinated. He’s hoping the new mask mandates in Kansas City for those indoors, regardless of vaccination status, will be enough to keep the Delta variant from getting worse. In his words, “The way we get to tomorrow is by taking care of each other. The delta variant clearly demonstrates that takes all of us, not just half of us, not just 30 percent of us, it really takes all of us. And that means vaccinations and masks. That’s how tomorrow becomes the today we wanted to be in. We do that by taking care of each other and acting as if in fact are a community of people bound together by faith and hope.”
Tuesday, August 3 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. We look at breakthrough infections. We hear from a local doctor who is fully vaccinated yet tested positive for COVID-19.
NOTE: Journalists should rejoin the Morning Medical Update at 8am as doctors are growing too busy again for individual interview requests. Please bring questions or send to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu until further notice. Thanks for all you do and helping to keep the community safe with your reporting.
ATTENTION: media 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 1-312-626-6799, 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.