COVID-19 updates: KC metro shutdown orders could be extended; Moms-to-be face anxiety
With the 30-day stay at home orders in Kansas City and surrounding communities set to expire next week, discussions are underway about possibility extending the orders, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said Monday.
Officials disagree on how long to extend the orders, which expire on April 24, but the shutdown could be extended between one to three more weeks, Lucas said in an interview on KMBZ radio.
“What I do not support is something that I think you saw in Virginia, where the governor there made an order until early June,” Lucas said. “I think that’s too far.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said during a press briefing on Friday that state leaders are discussing the possibility of extending the order beyond the state’s original April 19 expiration date. More information is expected to be available early this week.
“My guess is yes, we will extend it,” Kelly said. “But we don’t have the details on that right now.”
Pandemic adds anxiety for KC area future moms
The coronavirus pandemic is bringing additional stress and anxiety for expectant Kansas City mothers, who are also facing challenges because of temporary restrictions of social distancing.
In addition to worrying about whether COVID-19 can be passed to a newborn, moms-to-be are finding human-to-human connections they typically rely on are not as readily accessible.
Doctor visits are being handled more online than in the office. Support groups for lactation and postpartum depression can’t meet, so those have gone online. Visitors are not allowed in birthing units. Some hospitals have even cut the number of nurses and others who go in and out of mothers’ rooms.
Even grandparents have to wait to meet their grandbabies or turn to videoconferencing to see the newborns.
“Those first two or three days (of having a baby) are probably my favorite days of my entire life,” said Erin Symmonds of Kansas City, whose second baby is due in late June. “You’re basking in this emotional bliss of having this newborn and everyone you love is coming by to wish you congratulations and to see the baby.
“I just loved it. And I’m sad that that’s probably not going to happen with this one.”
Manufacturers in Kansas, Missouri face red tape in COVID-19 fight
Federal bureaucracy, unfamiliarity with the medical supply business and a lack of capital are creating hurdles for manufacturers in Kansas and Missouri who say they’re ready to convert their plants to meet the demand for protective face masks, hospital gowns and ventilators caused by the pandemic.
Mark Hess of Mess Services Inc., a Hays, Kansas-based manufacturer of storage tanks and other equipment for the oil industry, developed a prototype of an iron lung he would like to sell to rural Kansas hospitals that lack intensive care units.
But he’s having trouble getting authorization from the Food and Drug Administration because he’s a non-medical manufacturer.
“I’ve put in 15 hours a day for the last four days on this and I’m not getting any closer,” Hess said Thursday after two weeks of seeking emergency approval.
“It’s frustrating from our level… Yeah, they’ll let you do this in an emergency, but here’s your 10 tiers bureaucracy,” Hess said. “It’s the whole government on this ‘cover your ass’ mentality.”
Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, said President Donald Trump needs to more fully utilize the Defense Production Act, the Cold War-era law that enables the president to order private sector production of necessary goods.
While he has used the act to compel General Motors to produce ventilators and to stop 3M from exporting protective masks, he has resisted calls from Democrats to apply the law more aggressively.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, has proposed expanding liability protections for companies engaged in emergency medical production for the federal government. The legislation would also provide subsidies for U.S. firms in an effort to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign imports.
Wyandotte County reports four new COVID-19-related deaths
Four more people died from COVID-19 in Wyandotte County, bringing the county’s total to 28 deaths, according data released Monday by local health officials.
The number of cases also increased to a total of 336 cases, up five cases from the day before, according to the data.
Meanwhile statewide in Kansas, there are 1,376 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, which is up 39 cases from Sunday, according to data released Monday afternoon by state health officials.
There have been 62 people who have died from COVID-19. More than 300 people have been hospitalized with the disease, according to state health officials.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 12:31 PM.
