The University of Kansas Health System has a higher number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital today. 21 patients are being treated for the virus, up from 19 yesterday. Nine are in the ICU, same as yesterday and three are on ventilators, same as yesterday. Doctors say the health system continues to discharge patients every day, while admitting new patients with the virus.
Mark Steele, MD, executive chief clinical officer at Truman Medical Centers/University Health, Larry Botts, MD, chief medical officer AdventHealth Shawnee Mission and Raghu Adiga, MD, chief medical officer and infectious disease physician at Liberty Hospital joined the panel to update their patient and testing stories as numbers climb among COVID-19 positive people.
The three chief medical officers all have seen a spike in COVID-19 patient numbers in the last few weeks, similar to the ones reported by The University of Kansas Health System in the daily briefings. All report the same recent trend of younger patients now being treated and all have increased testing for the virus. All three have noticed what they call the troubling trend of fewer people wearing masks in public, and stress that reports are showing mask wearing is one of the best ways to keep the virus from spreading. They say until a vaccine is available, mask wearing and observing the pillars of infection control are all that will keep that from happening. They all agree there’s no right answer about whether schools will be safe, but agree the kids need to resume their education no matter what form that takes.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, expanded on that back-to-school theme and had some examples of how schools can mitigate the risks for both students and teachers this fall. He also answered a question on how you know when it’s the right time to get tested for COVID-19. He feels we have not reached the peak in cases yet and says we won’t know for sure when that peak occurs until full testing is available.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, suggested we wear a mask outdoors on the chance we should meet Patrick Mahomes walking down the street towards us. He says of course we’d want to protect Kansas City’s half billion-dollar man, so we should try to protect each other the same way. He feels it’s reckless behavior since society has reopened that’s driving the high numbers being seen at all area hospitals. He says we’re all in this together and need to look out for each other. In his words, “Everyone looks good in a mask!”
Friday, July 10 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. We get a lot of unanswered questions throughout the week. Doctors will tackle those questions going into the weekend and remind folks to maintain the pillars of infection prevention and control.
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 1-253-215-8782, 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.