Kansas: Covid-19 cases - 46,002 cases; 481 deaths

[mcphilbrick]

COVID-19 outbreak leaves grim unemployment picture in Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas spent nearly $15 million last week on unemployment, but that barely scratches the surface of the need amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

During a typical week from January to March in the past two years, Kansas provided unemployment benefits for roughly 8,500 workers.

Last week, Kansas provided benefits to 37,150 workers, a need more than four times greater than usual and growing.

Kansas adds fewer than 5,900 new unemployment claims in a typical three-week period from January to March during the past two years.

According to the Kansas Department of Labor, the state has received 129,698 new unemployment claims in the past three weeks as stay-at-home orders and business closures have forced many companies to shed staff.

KSHB - https://bit.ly/2UUFVii

[mcphilbrick]

Douglas Co. has 38 cases of COVID-19, 26 recovered

Posted: Wed 4:16 PM, Apr 08, 2020

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced today that they have 38 total cases of the coronavirus, with 26 recoveries. Most counties either do not publish the number of recoveries or have yet to see any recoveries, but Douglas County is an exception.

The majority of positive cases in the county were travel-related, but several were either community transmission or contracted by someone who was in close contact with another positive individual. One case's transmission is still under investigation.

Only one person in the county has been hospitalized for the virus in the county. The majority of patients with the virus in the county are between 20 and 29 years old.

WIBW TV (Topeka, KS) - https://bit.ly/2RpnwIa

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Pottawatomie Co. has five cases of COVID-19

Posted: Wed 4:03 PM, Apr 08, 2020


OPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- Pottawatomie County now has five positive cases of the coronavirus.

WIBW TV (Topeka, KS) - https://bit.ly/2xhLNZQ

[mcphilbrick]

Kansas Republicans Seemingly Erase COVID-19 Ban On Large Gatherings Over Church Services

TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas may not have any limits on the number of people who can safely gather — at all.

In a dramatic rebuke, Republican leaders on the Legislative Coordinating Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to overturn the Democratic governor’s executive order banning churches and funerals from gathering more than 10 people, which followed a wider directive from March 24.

It was seemingly the final straw when Kelly told churches that they couldn’t gather to celebrate one of the most important days in Christianity, Easter. Kelly did not immediately reinstate a ban on gatherings, saying her administration was exploring its legal options.

She called the Republicans leaders’ decision “shockingly irresponsible,” action that will “put every Kansan at risk.” She also took aim at Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who discouraged police and prosecutors from breaking up groups of people, which she called a “bizarre, confusing and overtly political attack.”

The fight came as Kansas topped 1,000 cases of COVID-19. Already, Kansas officials say three clusters of coronavirus have been tied directly to church events, leading to 165 illnesses and 12 deaths.

But the order shutting churches down almost entirely, even though most had canceled services or had moved them online voluntarily, rankled Kansas’ Republican leaders.

Kelly said her legal counsel had put the executive order together, and believed it was constitutional. But Senate President Susan Wagle, who often clashes with Kelly, disagreed.

“We’re restricting individual rights to practice religious liberties,” said Wagle, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate. “I can’t approve this.”

House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch said during the Legislative Coordinating Council’s conference call that he hoped everyone will stay home, adding that it isn’t worth the risk to go to a church service this weekend. He thanked church leaders for holding online services.

Those who voted to overturn the executive order were Wagle, Finch, Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, House Speaker Ron Ryckman and House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins. The two Democrats on the panel, Sen. Anthony Hensley and House Rep. Tom Sawyer, wanted to keep the order.

KCUR - https://bit.ly/2JSB4rH

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KDHE Update
April 8 - 1 pm

1106 Cases
263 Hosptializationa
42 Deaths
9669 Negative Tests

By Lab
State Lab - 262
Private Lab - 844

by Sex
Female: 587
Male: 518
Not reported 1

By Age group

0-9 years - 9
10-19 years - 17
20 - 34 years - 172
35 - 44 years - 143
45 - 54 years - 207
55 - 64 years - 219
65 - 74 years - 161
75 - 84 years - 101
85+ years - 77

Hospitalizations Age Rante
Average: 62
Median 62
Youngest 0
Oldest 95

County Data

County	4/9/2020
Atchison	2
Barber	1
Barton	4
Bourbon	7
Butler	8
Chautauqua	3
Cheokee	5
Clay	1
Cloud	3
Coffey	36
Cowley	1
Crawford	4
Doniphan	1
Douglas	38
Finney	12
Ford	2
Franklin	10
Geary	5
Gove	1
Greenwood	1
Harvey	4
Jackson	1
Jefferson	5
Jewell	2
Johnson	252
Labette	11
Leavenworth	61
Linn	5
Lyon	26
Marion	3
McPherson	13
Miami	3
Mitchell	2
Montgomery	11
Morris	2
Morton	1
Neosho	1
Osage	3
osborne	2
Ottawa	3
Pottawatomie	5
Pratt	1
Reno	10
Republic	3
Riley	20
Rooks	2
Saline	8
Scott	1
Sedgwick	161
shawnee	56
Stafford	1
Stevens	1
Sumner	2
Wabaunsee	1
Woodson	3
Wyandotte	272

[Missouriwatcher]

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Thursday the Sunflower State has reached 1,106 cases of COVID-19 and 42 deaths have been reported...The state said 263 of 847 cases have required hospitalization and the age range is from less than a year old to 97, with the median age of 55...https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-...ounty/32096392

[mcphilbrick]

Deaths by County --

Note: Deaths over the past few days have not been well documented in the media. In order to obtain the following information, the Facebook pages and web sites for the county health departments were consulted.

County	4/9/2020
Atchison	0
Barber	0
Barton	0
Bourbon	1
Butler	0
Chautauqua	0
Cheokee	0
Clay	0
Cloud	0
Coffey	1
Cowley	1
Crawford	1
Doniphan	0
Douglas	0
Finney	0
Ford	0
Franklin	0
Geary	0
Gove	0
Greenwood	0
Harvey	0
Jackson	0
Jefferson	0
Jewell	0
Johnson	12
Labette	0
Leavenworth	1
Linn	0
Lyon	0
Marion	0
McPherson	0
Miami	0
Mitchell	0
Montgomery	2
Morris	0
Morton	0
Neosho	0
Osage	0
osborne	0
Ottawa	0
Pottawatomie	0
Pratt	0
Reno	0
Republic	0
Riley	0
Rooks	0
Saline	1
Scott	0
Sedgwick	2
shawnee	3
Stafford	0
Stevens	0
Sumner	1
Wabaunsee	0
Woodson	0
Wyandotte	16
Total	42

[mcphilbrick]

Two Kansas counties confirm first deaths from COVID-19

COWLEY COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) – Cowley and Sumner have reported the first deaths from COVID-19.

The Cowley County Health Department on Wednesday confirmed a man over the age of 60 had underlying health conditions and died at a Wichita hospital.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of this community member,” said Cowley County Public Health Officer, Thomas Langer. “Our deepest condolences go out to his friends, family and loved ones. His passing is a sad reminder of how serious this disease can be. We continue to make the health of this community our top priority and ask that all citizens do what they can to help slow the spread of COVID-19, please stay at home.”

Cowley County residents are encouraged to help the community and the health care system flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19 by limiting public gatherings, covering all coughs, and washing hands.

In Sumner County, the health department confirms a resident with COVID-19 died Thursday while hospitalized in Sedgwick County. No details were released about the patient.

“Our deepest condolences go to the family. We are very saddened by the news. His passing is a sad reminder of how serious this pandemic is. And also how we must all work together to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Luara Rettig, Sumner County Health Officer.

KSN - https://bit.ly/3c5lhSh

[mcphilbrick]

Wife of man who was Joco’s first COVID-19 death finally gets tested and it’s positive

Joanna Wilson, the wife of the man who was Johnson County’s first COVID-19 death, now has tested positive for the virus.

She got a test last week through the University of Kansas Hospital, she said, after she developed some symptoms and the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment declined to test her.

“I called them twice after Dennis died to see if I could get tested because I was his caregiver, and they said no,” Joanna Wilson told The Star on Wednesday. “Now I’m sitting home with symptoms, and I have the disease.

“So now, when you see the Kansas statistics flash across the screen, you’ve got Dennis in one category and me in the other.”

Dennis Wilson, 74, of Lenexa, a retired school superintendent, died March 21, just five days after a test confirmed he had coronavirus.

Joanna Wilson said a man from the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment contacted her on March 18 — two days after her husband was admitted to the ICU at AdventHealth’s main campus in Overland Park — to see if she had any symptoms.

At the time, she did not. But after Dennis died, she said, she was concerned about being exposed and called the health department to see if she could get tested.

“He was like, ‘Nope, you don’t need to do anything.’”

Last week, when she started having symptoms, she said, she called the health department and again asked to be tested.

“I told him I had symptoms, and they still wouldn’t do it,” she said. “He didn’t give me any guidance on what I should be doing.”

So on Friday, she called a friend whose sister is an internal medicine doctor at the University of Kansas Hospital.

“They took me on as a patient right away,” Wilson said. “I had a telemed visit, and that ball got rolling fast. She ordered me a test, I went to their location at Indian Creek on Saturday, got tested in the drive-thru and got the results back Monday morning.”

She said she’d been in self-quarantine since her husband died, and the 14 days would have ended Saturday.

“I could have been out Sunday getting my essential items, exposing 20, 40, 60 people,” said Wilson, a retired nurse. “But I knew better, so I never left quarantine at all.

“The thing that bothers me is that most of the people that call the health department are the regular public that don’t have a medical background or knowledge of what to do, and they’re calling them for direction. No wonder we can’t flatten the curve.”

The health department said in an email Wednesday afternoon that Joanna Wilson’s son, Luke Wilson — a doctor — had called last week to request a test for his mother but “at that time, the symptoms (clinical features) that were reported did not meet the epidemiological risk.”

The department follows Kansas Department of Health and Environment protocol in order to determine who gets tested, said spokeswoman Barbara Mitchell. Someone who has been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 would not be tested unless that person has a temperature of more than 100 degrees or has a cough or shortness of breath, according to the KDHE criteria.

Luke Wilson told The Star that he had a heated discussion with someone from the Johnson County department after they said his mother couldn’t be tested. After he got off the phone, he said, he learned that his mother had arranged to go to KU.

Mitchell said that after Luke Wilson called, the Johnson County health department contacted KDHE — which does the tests for the health department — to see if it would run a test for Joanna Wilson anyway, and KDHE agreed to do so.

“JCDHE then called back and left a message on the son’s phone saying that JCDHE could test or she could work with her healthcare provider for testing,” Mitchell said. “JCDHE did not receive a call back. It is confusing to understand the testing protocol that a health department has to follow. I hope Mrs. Wilson is feeling better. She and her family have had to deal with a lot in a short amount of time!”

Joanna Wilson said she’s had symptoms for a little more than a week.

“Food hasn’t tasted good, and I haven’t really had a sense of taste,” she said. “But I don’t have a fever or any aches. So far, I have mild symptoms, and let’s hope it stays that way.”

She went through a similar issue when her husband became ill. He went to two urgent care clinics with flu-like symptoms, but they wouldn’t test him because he didn’t have a fever. Eight days after the second urgent care visit, he died.

When she learned of her test results Monday, she said, “I was really sad.”

“I’m usually the fixer,” she said. “But I couldn’t fix Dennis, and now I’ve got this.

“I’ve been by myself since I came home from the hospital when Dennis died. It’s so quiet. I miss my kids. But that’s how it has to be.”

Kansas City Star - https://bit.ly/3e99fJn

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Live blog: Gov. Kelly appeals to KS Supreme Court on executive order

3:45 p.m. | A day after a Kansas Legislative committee overturned an executive order issued by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly that limited the size of religious gatherings to fewer than 10 people, the governor fired back, announcing she has directed her general counsel to file a lawsuit against the Legislative Coordinating Committee, and plans to appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court for an expedited ruling.

"Kansas lives are on the line," Kelly said during her regular daily briefing in Topeka.

KSHB - https://bit.ly/2XoaBdt

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Sedgwick County plans to increase COVID-19 testing capacity

WICHTA, Kan. (KWCH) Another threshold reached in Kansas in the effort to respond to COVID-19. More than 10,000 Kansans have been tested for the disease as of Wednesday.

Every county in Kansas has tested at least one person for COVID 19.

It's a number state health officials wish was higher, but in this fight where success is measured in baby steps, a small increase in testing capacity is a win.

That's what Sedgwick County plans to start doing Thursday.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of 50 or so [a day average]," said Sedgwick County Health Department Director Adrienne Byrne. "Just because it's unpredictable how many testing supplies that we get in daily, and I don't really want to open it up and test 300 people and then not be able to do it for a week."

So far, Sedgwick County has averaged 12 to 18 people who have samples taken each day for COVID-19.

The capacity for testing is limited in all of Kansas for two main reasons.
One is limited testing supplies.

"It's those darn swabs," said Byrne. "First, it was the media to put the swabs in to be able to ship or be able to send to the private lab. Now it's those swabs. It's a particular type of swab that has a little bit of flexibility to it because it goes way, way back into the cavity to get to where more of the virus tends to be, so it can't be a regular Q-tip."



To limit how quickly those supplies are expended, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has strict criteria for who can be tested.

"We've had to be very restrictive on who we test, so mainly people with severe symptoms and a few others, first responders and health care workers who have been exposed but other than that, we haven't been able to test," said Sedgwick County Health Officer Dr. Garold Minns. "We know there's others, a lot of people out there who have the virus but don't have many symptoms yet."

Other parts of the criteria require patients to be at least 60 years old and older and have pre-existing conditions.

Although more leeway is expected to come there. What's allowing Sedgwick County to expand the testing ability is a contract that was approved with private lab Quest.

"That is what we have been waiting for," said Byrne. "It's taken a good two weeks to get that contract through Quest, more on their end because this is new for the commercial labs."

In Kansas, Sedgwick County is only behind Johnson County for the number of people they've tested.

Both counties have populations larger than half a million. In Sedgwick County, 1,081 people have been tested as of Wednesday with 145 positive tests. That puts the rate of testing at about 2.09 people per 1,000 in Sedgwick County.

It's a rate lower than in the Kansas City, Kansas metro.Johnson County has tested about 2,136 people as of Wednesday with 244 cases.
Its rate is 3.55 people per 1,000 residents.

Local health officials said it's hard to pin down a clear explanation.

"That was interesting because we're all struggling with that [ability to test]," said Byrne. "I imagine it may have something to do with the number of people that are calling that meet criteria possibly because again, we're all struggling with getting those swabs."

"I doubt if it's due to testing limitations because the KDHE has been applying the same limitations pretty much throughout the state. I don't know if we have a good explanation," said Dr. Minns. "It may be that our social distancing and some of the companies closing down, maybe better adherence to stay at home is possibly explaining why we're not seeing as many cases. I would like to think so."

The slower rise in positive cases is the desired result, and a path that experts said needs to continue.

"We shouldn't let this slow rise reassure us that everything is hunky-dory. We haven't seen the peak yet, so we have to get through that next phase, so everybody's just got to hunker down and keep doing that," said Dr. Minns.

What health officials would like to see, that would take a lot more to achieve.

"If we had the ability to test thousands of people, that would help us understand more how it's in our community, both with testing those who are ill and those that are A-symptomatic to have an idea of how many A-symptomatic people are carriers of COVID 19, but we're not able to do that," said Byrne. "Right now, our focus is really testing those who are ill and have COVID like symptoms so that we can isolate them and really mitigate, really slow down the spread of the illness."

The first step for someone who suspects they have COVID-19 symptoms or contact with a person who tested positive is to call their health provider or the United Way's 2-1-1 hotline. 2-1-1 will screen people to see if they meet the criteria for testing.

KWCH 12 - https://bit.ly/2UZ72Jg

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Johnson County asks residents to report symptoms then announces random COVID-19 testing plan

OLATHE, Kan. -- In the first 24 hours that a community health survey was available, 1,600 Johnson County residents logged on to tell health officials they have symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.

Then on Wednesday, the director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment announced its first drive-thru testing.

But he explained people with symptoms won’t be the first tested. Dr. Sanmi Areola said it’s because 4 out of every 5 people who get infected are infected by someone without symptoms.

Areola said the county only recently received enough swabs to start drive-thru testing and also test at-risk health workers. It currently has 1,100 tests.

In all, 47,000 people have responded to that online community health survey.

The 1,600 people with symptoms represent about 3.5% of respondents. But likely very few of them will be among the first 500 people tested Friday.

“It is important to sample in people without symptoms because we know that you can carry the virus and be asymptomatic,” Areola said.
Instead, the county said it’s working off a different list randomly generated by the ETC Institute in Plate that covers all demographics, ages, races and ethnicities. People chosen for the tests will receive emails with instructions.

“For the safety of our employees and for everyone, there will be virtually no contact. You will be in your car, you will roll the windows down, we will take your sample and you will be on your way,” Areola said.

Areola said the county’s own survey, which runs through Friday, is still important for people to fill out. It could be used to distribute extra tests if ETC isn’t able to get 500 willing participants.

The community survey will mainly help the county make informed decisions in the future about what precautions are working and which ones might need to be redirected or rolled back.

“We have seen the impact of cities, states, and countries that are overrun because they didn’t take timely appropriate and adequate steps. I believe that we did that here, but we have to stay the course,” Areola said.

The first drive-thru testing will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at College Boulevard Activities Center in Olathe by appointment only. They plan to do three more testings, once about every two weeks, for a total of 2,000 tests.

Though that means most in the community won’t be tested, Areola reminds residents that you don’t need a positive test result to self-isolate if you have symptoms.

Fox4 News - https://bit.ly/2RqbNJw

[mcphilbrick]

89 people have recovered from COVID-19 in 12 Kansas counties

Here are the counties reporting recoveries:

• Sedgwick: 29 (154 total cases, 2 deaths)
• Leavenworth: 8 (59 total cases, 1 death)
• Shawnee: 10 (56 total cases, 3 deaths)
• Coffey: 7 (36 total cases, 1 death)
• Lyon: 9 (27 total cases)
• Riley: 5 (19 total cases)
• Reno: 4 (11 total cases)
• Franklin: 8 (10 total cases)
• Butler: 3 (8 total cases)
• Jefferson: 2 (5 total cases)
• Cherokee: 2 (5 total cases)
• Harvey: 2 (4 total cases)

Data compiled by the Reno County Health Department showed there were 1,081 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kansas, including 40 deaths.

The state's two hardest hit counties, Johnson and Wyandotte, have not yet reported any recovery numbers.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Wednesday that there were 1,046 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kansas, an increase of 146 from its update Tuesday afternoon.

KAKE News will keep checking reports from individual counties and update this story with new information as it becomes available. Get the latest information at kake.com/virus.

Worldwide, there are nearly 1.5 million cases. More than 337,000 people have recovered, and Johns Hopkins University reports 89,000 deaths. The United States was at 432,554 cases, with 14,808 deaths and 24,213 recoveries.

KAKE - https://bit.ly/2UU7hVI

[mcphilbrick]

KDHE Update
April 10 2 pm

Cases: 1166
Hospitalizations: 274
Statewide Deaths: 50
Negative tests: 10,248

Positive tests by lab
State labe: 269
Private Lab: 897

Age Range
Average: 55
Median: 55
Youngest: 0
Oldest: 99

Cases by Sex:
Female: 620
Male: 543

Cases by age group:
0-9 years: 11
10-19 years: 18
20 - 34 years: 181
35- 44 years: 146
45-54 years: 214
55-64 years: 230
64-74 Years: 172
75-84 years: 105
85+ years: 89

County Data:

County	4/10/2020
Atchison	2
Barber	1
Barton	4
Bourbon	7
Butler	8
Chautauqua	3
Cherokee	5
Clay	1
Cloud	3
Coffey	37
Cowley	1
Crawford	4
Doniphan	1
Douglas	39
Finney	12
Ford	3
Franklin	10
Geary	5
Gove	1
Greenwood	1
Harvey	4
Jackson	1
Jefferson	5
Jewell	2
Johnson	262
Labette	14
Leavenworth	66
Linn	5
Lyon	26
Marion	3
McPherson	13
Miami	3
Mitchell	2
Montgomery	12
Morris	2
Morton	1
Neosho	1
Osage	3
osborne	2
Ottawa	3
Pottawatomie	5
Pratt	1
Reno	10
Republic	4
Riley	20
Rooks	2
Saline	8
Scott	2
Sedgwick	172
shawnee	57
Stafford	1
Stevens	1
Sumner	2
Wabaunsee	1
Woodson	3
Wyandotte	296

[Missouriwatcher]

https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/NewsRelease/COVID19/update_4-10_numbers.pdf

[mcphilbrick]

17 Clusters

During today's (4/10/2020) press conference, Dr. Norman (KDHE) indicated there are 17 indentified clusters in the state. (up from the 11 reported earlier). Of those 17, 2 are with private companites and 4 involve religious gatherings. Two of the 'religious gatherings' clusters are in Sedgwick County and 2 in Wyandotte County.

Video of Press Conference
KSNT - https://bit.ly/2XpTWGo
WIBW - on Facebook - https://bit.ly/3a11CBJ

From Kansas.com [Wichita Eagle - Wichita, KS] - https://www.kansas.com/news/coronavi...241896611.html

Church coronavirus clusters identified in Sedgwick County amid mass gathering confusion

Local public health officials say that coronavirus clusters have been found in Wichita-area churches as state politicians debate restrictions on religious gatherings ahead of Easter Sunday.

“During the course of our investigations, we have identified clusters, including in churches,” said Kaylee Hervey, the epidemiology program manager for the Sedgwick County Health Department. “And in those clusters, we have identified individuals at risk and are monitoring them.”

Details on the clusters have not been made available to the general public.