The University of Kansas Health System reports 124 COVID patients with the active virus today, down from 126 yesterday. 24 of those patients are in the ICU, down from 28 yesterday. 18 are on ventilators, the same as yesterday. 75 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 73 yesterday. That’s a total of 199 patients, the same as yesterday.
On today’s Open Mics With Dr. Stites, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was the guest. The mayor discussed his own bout with COVID and the impact it had on his family, including his eight-month-old baby. He also discussed his definite plan to help stop the spread of COVID in the Metro. He joined Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at the health system and Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control.
Here are the key points from each of today’s speakers:
Mayor Lucas
- Planning to reconvene the Core Four government entities, Wyandotte County, Johnson County, Jackson County and Kansas City, to discuss mask mandates, as they did when the pandemic first broke out.
- Survived COVID with mild symptoms. Credits full vaccination and booster
- Hard to watch eight month old son get COVID, but he recovered too
- Despite “saber rattling from our state attorney general,” continuing to evaluate universal masking, especially in schools. Feels they are on solid legal ground
- School mask mandate will most likely be extended for another 30 days when the current mandate expires the first week of February
- Because of changes in state laws, the mayor can no longer simply decree universal mask mandates for the public.
Dr. Stites:
- Hopes to see COVID cases peak in seven to ten days and then decline.
- Hospitalizations run seven to 14 days behind the peak so hospitalizations will continue to rise for the near future
- Majority of hospitalized COVID patients have symptoms and almost all are unvaccinated
- 50% of all surgical cases have been postponed due to staffing shortages
Dr. Hawkinson
- Vaccine makers are looking at a possibility of omicron specific vaccine
- Explained how to know when to seek medical help for COVID symptoms and when to treat at home
- For the latest on vaccine safety for kids, check the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Association of Family Physicians web sites.
Thursday, January 20 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Last week alone, the COVID positivity rate in Johnson County approached 31 percent. In Wyandotte County, the big concern is the low vaccination rate. Health officers from both counties will join us to discuss what they are doing about these numbers.
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_SDI and is being made available to all with TVU service.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
