COVID-19 news: KC hospitals pushed to limit, contract tracing not feasible in JoCo schools

Here’s the latest on COVID-19 in the Kansas City area:

COVID-19 cases push hospitals to brink

With COVID-19 cases surging, hospitals in Kansas City and across the region are pushed beyond their limits like never before in the pandemic, which could lead to life-or-death decisions for all patients, even those who don’t have the virus, hospital leaders warned Wednesday.

They described gridlocked emergency rooms, a lack of hospital beds, staffing shortages as record numbers of employees are calling in sick with COVID, and patients dying in emergency rooms while waiting to be transferred to hospitals with available beds.

Area hospitals seek return to emergency orders

Hospital leaders in Kansas and Missouri are asking for new emergency declarations to alleviate staffing concerns amid the latest spike of COVID-19.

“I don’t really see an end in sight,” said Kim Megow, chief medical officer at HCA Midwest. “An emergency declaration in both states would be extremely helpful.”

In a call of Kansas City area and Kansas hospital officials Wednesday morning, Megow said an emergency declaration would allow hospitals additional flexibility in moving staff around and opening up more beds.

School contract tracing ‘no longer feasible’: JoCo officials

Reporting a record COVID-19 infection rate, Johnson County health officials are informing districts that contact tracing within schools “is no longer feasible.”

The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment released new guidance to schools on Tuesday, saying that due to the high level of transmission, it can no longer conduct “intensive” contact tracing — investigating who has been exposed. Officials said the priority should be asking people who test positive to stay home and isolate.

That prompted the Blue Valley school district to tell families that it will no longer provide the health department with close contact information, and that the health department will no longer notify staff and students if they may have been exposed.

The Star’s Lisa Gutierrez, Katie Bernard, Sarah Ritter and Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.