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

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McPherson Dillons employee tests positive for COVID-19, county confirms

MCPHERSON, Kan. (KWCH) One of Kansas' most recent confirmed cases of COVID-19 is an employee at McPherson's Dillons on Main Street. McPherson County says the employee was not showing symptoms while on the clock, but started to feel sick and left work for the day.

McPherson County health officials are working to contact anyone who may have been in contact, but do want to give a heads up to anyone who was at the Dillons from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. March 31 or from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 1 that they may have been exposed to the virus.

Anyone who believes they were exposed in this case and starts feeling any symptoms related to COVID-19 should contact their doctor. If this case possibly concerns you and you don't have a provider, you can call the McPherson County Health Department at 620-241-1753.

Symptoms of COVID-19 can appear two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Dillons says it's supporting the employee with emergency paid leave and discussed sanitation efforts it immediately took after learning of this case.

"We will continue to follow guidance from local, state and federal agencies, including the CDC and other health organizations," a statement form the company says.

KWCH 12 (Wichita, KS) - https://bit.ly/2y3QVAX

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Random testing for COVID-19 begins in Johnson County, Kansas

OLATHE, Kan. -- Johnson County's health department began random testing Friday to detect the coronavirus.

The county hopes to use the test results to contain the virus.

This is the first of four planned events in Johnson County where at least 500 people will be tested for COVID-19. It's by invitation only.

The goal is to randomly test at least 2,000 people to supplement testing that's already been happening in nursing homes and among first responders and health care workers.

The health department will investigate people who test positive and try to contain the disease by isolating those who have come into contact with the positive individual.

People receiving invitations have been selected randomly, but also include some Johnson Countians who have reported in a community survey that they have COVID-19 symptoms.

"About 2,400 out of that number, the last time I checked, said they have one or two symptoms," said Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment. "We went further and asked the question: Would you want to be tested? 1,700 out of 2,400 said yes. So we supplement the random sample with people that had symptoms and volunteered to be tested."

Dr. Areola says more than 65,000 people have responded to the health department's survey.
About 4 percent of the respondents claim to have COVID-19 symptoms.

Dr. Areola says the infection rate appears to be stabilizing with Johnson County cases projected to peak in the next week or two.

Nearly half of all Johnson Countians are expected to be infected at some point or another.

The county has 85,000 residents over the age of 65, so the focus remains on protecting that high-risk population.

Fox4 (Kansas City ) - https://bit.ly/2V0xMsw

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COVID-19 case confirmed in Ellis County



The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has confirmed a positive case of COVID-19 in Ellis County. The patient is currently in home isolation, following the guidance of the CDC and ECHD.

The positive case was identified through testing sent to a private lab. These results will be verified by the CDC lab but will be treated as a positive unless determined otherwise.

ECHD has followed KDHE guidelines to identify any close contacts of the individual. Those individuals have already been notified and have been directed to self-quarantine.

The patient is a male in his 30s. No other information will be provided about the patient.

Hays Daily News (Hays, KS) - https://bit.ly/3c0YxD4

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Kansas infant tests positive for COVID-19

BELLEVILLE, Kan. (KAKE) -

Health officials in north-central Kansas say an infant has tested positive for COVID-19.

Testing confirmed on Thursday the child, who is under a year old, was positive, the Republic County Health Department said in a release. It's the county's fourth case, and all are considered part of a community outbreak.

The release said the child was not involved in any travel and has no underlying health conditions. Officials are working to identify those who have been exposed and contact them as soon as possible. They will be monitored for symptoms.

KAKE (Wichita, KS) - https://bit.ly/3c744rz

[Ronan Kelly]

COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) Quick Stats
(Preliminary Numbers, Subject to Change)
Updated 4/11/2020
• There were 1,268 cases from 61 counties with 55 deaths reported as of 11 a.m.
• There have been 293 of 987 cases that have been hospitalized.
• There have been 11,075 negative tests conducted at KDHE and private labs.
• Age range is 0 years to 99 years (median 54 years)
• There have been 290 tests at KHEL and 978 at private labs.
• 683 cases are female and 581 are male and 2 unknown and 2 are not reported.
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https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/NewsR...te_numbers.pdf

[Ronan Kelly]

COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) Quick Stats
(Preliminary Numbers, Subject to Change)
Updated 4/12/2020
• There were 1,337 cases from 63 counties with 56 deaths reported as of 11 a.m.
• There have been 298 of 1,033 cases that have been hospitalized.
• There have been 11,916 negative tests conducted at KDHE and private labs.
• Age range is 0 years to 99 years (median 55 years)
• There have been 310 tests at KHEL and 1,027 at private labs.
• 722 cases are female and 611 are male and 4 unknown.
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https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/NewsR...te_numbers.pdf

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Southwest Kansas COVID-19 update

Finney County added four more positive confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday and Saturday, bringing the total to 16.

At this time, Finney County is not considered a community spread region according to the Finney County Health Department. The KDHE defines community spread as five (5) cases of unrelated origin or connection, and Finney County does not meet that criteria.

Additional information, including preventative measures, can be found at www.finneycounty.org/Coronavirus .

Hamilton County had its first positive confirmed case on Friday. Stevens County added one more and Ford County added two.

Other parts of southwest Kansas are beginning to feel COVID-19 outbreak also. Here’s a look at the totals of positive confirmed COVID-19 cases, listed by th KDHE, as of 9 p.m. on Saturday:

Finney - 16

Ford - 5

Hamilton - 1


Morton - 1

Scott - 1

Seward - 3

Stevens - 2

The state of Kansas has over 1,100 confirmed positive cases.

A statewide stay at home order, for all of Kansas, is in effect and is set to expire on April 19.

Garden City Telegram (Garden City, KS) - https://bit.ly/2Vqjf8v

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Additional COVID-19 case in Saline County

The Saline County Health Department said it was notified about an additional positive COVID-19, bringing the total number to nine for the county.

In its Saturday press release, the department said the new case is a man in his 50s who was associated with close contact of another case.

Salina Journal (Salina, KS) https://bit.ly/2VrG5gl

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KHF opens $2 million COVID 19 grants initiative

he Kansas Health Foundation will begin accepting applications next weeks for its 2020 Impact and Capacity Grants Initiative, this year focused on COVID-19 response and recovery.

The $2 million initiative provides one-year grants of up to $25,000 for nonprofits who are mission-aligned with KHF.

Due to the urgency of responding to COVID-19 impacts, KHF is moving up its normal May 1 application launch date to April 13. Applications will be accepted through Aug. 31, or until all designated 2020 funds are awarded.

Requests for funding must be submitted through KHF’s communities portal. Applicants may visit https://kansashealth.org/grant-oppor...actandcapacity/ to learn more, or call KHF at (316) 262-7676 and leave a message.

The annual initiative is normally focused on making progress within KHF’s four impact areas. However, the KHF board recently repurposed the $2 million specifically for COVID-19 response and recovery.

The 2020 ICG initiative is intended to support two categories of efforts: to assist nonprofits with response to this pandemic, and to provide core operations support for nonprofits to continue serving Kansas communities.

Nonprofits receiving the grants will have the discretion to decide how funds would be best utilized to maintain as much organizational stability as possible, as well as maintain continuity of services.

Organizations positioned to offer additional community support may also apply for funding to aid in the expansion of critical service delivery.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

COVID-19 Response: Funding critical safety-net needs for the clients; support to build and develop pandemic education and prevention strategies; prevention-related expenses for items such as sanitizing supplies and equipment for frontline workers; Telehealth and remote educational support; unexpected work-from-home expenses

COVID-19 Recovery: Costs associated with offering services to clients in ways that reduce transmission risk; support to stabilize critical safety-net nonprofits that provide services to vulnerable populations; operational funding, supplies, equipment and other program costs for organizations trying to minimize exposure for high-risk groups.

Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, KS) - https://bit.ly/3b23bAI

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Kansas coronavirus update: Supreme Court sides with Gov. Laura Kelly in fight over church crowds

TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court late Saturday re-instated Gov. Laura Kelly’s ban on large church crowds by determining a Republican-led panel doesn’t have the power to overrule an executive order.

The unanimous decision means Kelly’s order limiting religious gatherings to no more than 10 individuals was in effect before Easter Sunday services. The court didn’t consider whether Kelly’s order infringes on religious freedom.

Instead, justices focused on the language of a hastily drafted resolution passed by the Legislature shortly before adjourning in March.

The resolution granted the governor emergency powers for responding to COVID-19 through May 1 and allows the State Finance Council to extend the emergency by 30 days. If extended, the resolution gives the Legislative Coordinating Council authority to reverse any executive order issued by the governor.

Justices determined the LCC doesn’t currently have that authority, based on the timetable outlined in the resolution. They declined to consider, as the governor argued, whether the Legislature can delegate such authority to the LCC in the first place.

Their decision followed arguments held hours earlier, entirely by video conference for the first time in the court’s history, and capped four days of high-stakes political posturing.

The governor moved to limit church crowds in response to outbreaks of the coronavirus that were connected to church events in Kansas. Across the state, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused 56 deaths and 1,337 infections.

The LCC, a panel of five Republican and two Democratic legislative leaders, on Wednesday overturned the governor’s order after Republicans objected to the possibility that someone could be arrested or fined for going to church. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, distributed a memo telling law enforcement to ignore the governor’s directive.

Kelly on Thursday filed a petition with the high court challenging the LCC’s action.

“The plain language requires certain conditions — the State Finance Council must have acted upon the governor’s request for an extension of the emergency declaration — before the LCC can act on behalf of the Legislature,” the court wrote in its opinion.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, and Rep. Blaine Finch, R-Ottawa, said the governor’s decision to go to court has created uncertainty during a time of crisis.

“The question was never whether people should gather in church during these times,” the House Republicans said. “The answer to that is clearly no. The question was whether people should be arrested and jailed for going to church. The governor believed they should be. We think that goes too far.”

The governor hasn’t indicated how she would like the order to be enforced. Violating the order would be a low-level misdemeanor.

Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, said other governors have kept places of worship open while encouraging people to stay home.

“Kelly’s orders display her misplaced priorities when she makes it an arrestable offense to attend church while prisoners are rioting, businesses are permanently closing, and state agencies are fumbling,” Wagle said.

Kelly said her top priority is the safety and well-being of Kansans.

“Today’s ruling does not change my commitment to maintaining open lines of communication and collaboration with the Legislature,” Kelly said. “The only way to get through this is by working with, not against, each other in a bipartisan fashion.”

Pastor Aaron Harris, of Calvary Baptist Church in Junction City, said the high court’s decision doesn’t “validate the governor’s order,” even though it carries the full force of law.

“The legislative council may not have had legal authority to revoke it, but it is still unconstitutional,” Harris said. “We’ll be having services tomorrow. I hope and pray that our local LE will respect the constitution.”

Junction City police chief John Lamb said church members acted responsibly during the service, which was monitored by an officer to ensure there were fewer than 10 participants and that they maintained six feet of separation.

Capital Journal (Topeka, KS) - https://bit.ly/2ySZ1g9

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KCK rehab facility reports more COVID-19 deaths and positive cases as Kansas reaches over 1,330 cases

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A rehab center in Kansas City, Kansas that has had a major outbreak in coronavirus COVID-19 cases reported Sunday that two more people have died and more positive cases have been reported.

The Wyandotte County Health Department said in an update Sunday afternoon that a total of 90 residents and 20 staff members have tested positive for the virus at Riverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation. At least five resident are in the hospital at this time. A total of 12 people have now died from the virus at the center.

“Our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones, those who are ill, and all who are otherwise affected by this disease,” the health department said Sunday.

The Unified Government launched an interactive dashboard that allows the public to track the progress of COVID-19 in Wyandotte County.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County launched a website that allows people who think they are sick with the coronavirus to self-report their symptoms.



The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported on Sunday that Kansas has now 1,337 cases from 63 counties with 56 deaths. Please note that the total number includes the 56 deaths, as well as people who have recovered from the virus and are still recovering.

Wyandotte County has the most number of reported cases with 332 and Johnson County, Kansas has 304 reported cases.


Fox4 (Kansas City) - https://bit.ly/3efUogr

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Wyandotte County
April 12, 2020 4:30 pm
https://experience.arcgis.com/experi...73d78e66e6219b

331 confirmed cases
56 hospitalized
24 deaths

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Johnson County, KS Update
April 12, 2020 4:30 pm

https://jocogov.org/coronavirus-covid-19-update

300 positive cases
14 deaths

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Leavenworth County KS Update
April 12 4:30 pm

https://www.leavenworthcounty.gov/covid/default.asp

80 confirmed positive
8 hospitalized
1 death

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Shawnee County, KS Update
April 12 4:30 pm
https://sncoks-gis.maps.arcgis.com/a...e998b478beb6aa

75 confirmed cases
4 deaths