Friday Media Briefing on COVID-19
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The number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System is again slightly lower today. After peaking at 36 patients earlier this week, 32 patients are being treated for the virus today, down from 33 yesterday. Five of those patients are in the ICU, a big drop from 17 yesterday. Four patients are on ventilators, down from six yesterday. Even though four COVID-19 patients were discharged, eight new ones were admitted. Doctors feel the health system can care for 40-45 patients without putting a strain on the system.
To wrap up our week focused on education, Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System and Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System took on school-related questions from viewers that they were not able to get to earlier in the week. They also went on a field trip to the zero-degree hospital freezer to graphically show how far a person’s breath, which could contain droplets of the virus, can travel.
Here are the questions in the order the doctors addressed them, followed by the short answer. See the video for their full answers and comments.
• Are we worried about long-term vaccine side effects? They look safe for now.
• Can kids interact safely with each other at school? Yes, with proper social distancing and hand hygiene.
• Can testing keep up with the increase that will come with schools back in session? No, with current testing capacity. That could change if we can flatten the curve again.
• Does “safe” mean zero COVID-19 cases? No, they’re not sure if we’ll ever reach zero community cases until there is some kind of vaccination or immunity.
• How do students and teachers eat lunch safely? Social distancing by rearranging tables is vital.
• How do we get young kids to keep a mask on? Would a face shield be better? Practice with them often before school begins. No data shows a face shield is better.
• How will students safely ride the bus? Need to find ways to have distancing on the buses along with mask wearing.
• If a teacher or student tests positive, what should the school and parents do? We don’t have a good answer yet. Looking for guidance from the CDC. Mask wearing is vital in the classroom.
• Other countries contained the virus before starting back to school. Are we being premature? The Unites States has a little different philosophy regarding state’s rights, and the decisions are being looked at on a county-by-county basis.
• Should schools take student temperatures each morning? Not sure if that would help because so many people don’t have symptoms, especially children.
• With the current COVID-19 numbers do we think it’s safe to play fall sports? It depends on how widespread the virus is in the county and if everyone can observe pillars of infection control.
Monday, July 27 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. Lance Williamson, RN, infection prevention and control manager and KDHE Epidemiologist John Rule share insights on the virus spread following a recent think-tank of area specialists. Also, Mario Castro, M.D., MPH, vice chair for clinical and translational research and a pulmonologist at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, joins the conversation with news of a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial that begins at KU Med in August.