Will region have to close up again? Medical director says it could happen this summer
As local governments in the Kansas City area begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and other restrictions on activity, a leading public health official said measures may have to be taken this summer to tighten those orders again.
Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City Health Department, said Tuesday that there hasn’t been enough data from testing for coronavirus as cities and counties begin lifting restrictions on social and commercial activity.
“I think it’s going to be even more difficult to tighten up,” Archer said on a conference call of about 60 local government and public health officials arranged by the Mid-America Regional Council. “Many of us are believing nationally as well as locally that we will have to tighten up by the end of June.”
Even so, political leaders in the Kansas City area remain divided about how to approach the public health response in the region.
Some mayors and county officials, particularly those representing Missouri-side suburban cities and counties, said Tuesday that restrictions on commercial activity have strained local economies.
“I’m very concerned about our business owners,” said Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross. “Some have closed doors and they are never reopening.”
Ross said he was also concerned about suicides and domestic violence incidents brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“As an elected official, I personally have to factor all those things in and I have to figure out how do I strike a balance in this?” Ross said.
Meanwhile, representatives from larger localities, like Kansas City, Independence and Kansas City, Kansas, urged caution in resuming normal daily activity in a region that has reported more than 3,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
David Alvey, mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, said he worried activity could open up so much that it risks overwhelming local hospitals if infection rates shoot up again.
“I’m really concerned people will lose confidence in their elected and public health officials if we don’t get this right,” Alvey said.
Alvey represents a county that has reported 877 cases of the coronavirus and 61 deaths. More than half of those deaths came from one long-term care facility.
Clay County in Missouri, by comparison, has reported 78 cases.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said local leaders should view the region as one place.
“I don’t know if we should factually look to individual communities and one community says, heck we don’t have a high number of infections right now ... and so therefore we are in a different place,” Lucas said.
Kansas City on Tuesday announced a surge of 60 coronavirus cases among its residents tied to the Triumph Foods processing plant in St. Joseph, about 55 miles north of Kansas City. Overall, 412 employees at Triumph Foods who showed no symptoms have tested positive for coronavirus.
“The processing plant cases from St. Joseph show how interconnected and mobile we are,” said Frank Thompson, deputy director of the Kansas City Health Department, in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
In Wyandotte County, 78 cases were connected to the St. Joseph plant.
Perhaps in recognition of the political tensions at play in the region, Lee’s Summit City Manager Stephen Arbo suggested that public health directors across the region develop new criteria to guide political leaders as they move along with their re-opening plans.
“Let’s have them, without concern of political influence, give us their very best recommendation,” Arbo said. “Have every one of them sign their name to it.”
The criteria would be based on six factors:
▪ Reduction in cases;
▪ Widespread availability of testing for those with symptoms;
▪ Access to personal protective gear for front-line workers;
▪ Heath system ability to manage a surge;
▪ Contact tracing capacity;
▪ Funding for public health.
The group plans to discuss the new criteria next week, and elected officials could then evaluate their re-opening plans again.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
