Mayor Lucas talks coronavirus, says KC doesn’t take emergency declaration ‘lightly’
There is no evidence anyone in the Kansas City area contracted the novel coronavirus from another person here, officials said in a news conference Thursday, but they urged residents to take measures to prevent the illness from spreading.
In Johnson County, three men and one woman have tested positive for the virus, which has infected more than 1,000 people across the U.S. But Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer said there has not yet been a case of the virus passed from person to person within the metropolitan area.
Kansas City, Missouri, doesn’t have any confirmed coronavirus cases, but Archer said it’s likely there are individuals in the area who have the illness and don’t know. He said health officials across the country are estimating between 60% and 80% of the U.S. population could contract the virus in the next two years.
“We still don’t have person-to-person proven transmission in the city,” Archer said, “so we’re not going to overreact or underreact. We’re going to be doing this and monitoring our decisions on a daily basis.”
Things like social distancing, Archer said, are essential to managing the virus.
“If we can change the average number of people that become infected from each person, we can slow it down and then it won’t overrun our emergency rooms, our (intensive care units), and we will have enough ventilators to treat everybody.”
The news conference came on the heels of Mayor Quinton Lucas’ announcement Thursday morning that he had issued a 21-day emergency declaration, canceling all events with more than 1,000 attendees and barring city employees from non-essential travel. The order does not apply to schools. It would apply to religious institutions with gatherings of more than 1,000 people, but they could still meet with fewer attendees.
Lucas said the city doesn’t “come to these decisions lightly.” He noted the city has not seen outbreaks like those in Seattle and other regions of the U.S., but he said it’s important to avoid similar situations here.
“We think the steps that we’re taking today will buy important time for our public health, public safety infrastructure,” Lucas said. “We think that it will allow us to make sure that we’re able to be prepared for any challenges in the future, and frankly, we think this is necessary to keep our community safe.”
Lucas’ announcement followed several high-profile cancellations. On Wednesday, the NBA suspended the rest of its season, universities in Kansas and Missouri canceled classes, and the Missouri Senate canceled its session for next week.
The Big 12 allowed the first of its planned basketball tournament games to proceed as planned at the Sprint Center Wednesday night. It initially planned to play the rest of the games without fans in the arena, but later canceled the remainder of the tournament.
Asked why he didn’t issue the emergency declaration before the first Big 12 tournament game, Lucas said information regarding the virus has changed even since he said Wednesday morning that the tournament wouldn’t be canceled.
“I think we were able to evaluate actually yesterday afternoon what was the important next step for Kansas City, and we think that this is the best step for us,” Lucas said.
Archer said that preventing the spread of coronavirus is the most important consideration, but that officials would be monitoring how the emergency declaration might harm working Kansas Citians.
“We have a large population in this city that are paycheck-to-paycheck, that are having trouble making their rent, that are having trouble feeding their kids, and if they can’t get this work with these various events, we have other health consequences of these decisions,” Archer said.
Archer said preventing large crowds from congregating is “a small part of how you stop these types of outbreaks” and said there is a significant “personal responsibility” associated with preventing the spread of coronavirus. High-risk populations, including those over 60, anyone with heart or lung problems and individuals with weakened immune systems, he said, should be wary of even small groups.
“Once we start seeing person-to-person transmission in the Kansas City metro area, we wouldn’t have a meeting like this. We wouldn’t have you in this close together,” Archer said to the room of fewer than two dozen journalists and officials.
For young, healthy people who don’t have reason to think they might have the virus, however, Lucas said there is no reason to consider the declaration a “mass quarantine.”
“Right now, I think we’re suggesting that there is heightened risk at large events,” Lucas said. “That’s how we’ve seen spread happen in a number of clusters throughout our country, and that’s the reason why we’re announcing these protocols today.”
To curb the spread of the virus, Archer recommended the following precautions:
▪ Avoid visiting nursing homes.
▪ Do not shake hands or fist-bump with others. Greet people without physical contact.
▪ If you have reason to believe you might be infected, stay away from large groups.
▪ Practice good personal hygiene.
In Kansas City, Missouri, Archer said, fewer than 12 people have been tested, all of whom have been found free of the virus.
Stemming the spread of the virus, Archer said, is important because public health officials need more resources.
“The risk to Americans is much higher from communicable diseases … than it is for being attacked by a foreign country,” Archer said.
An $8.3 billion coronavirus response package signed by President Donald Trump will help, Archer said, but he believes public health officials needed the resources five years ago.
“We are building the landing craft after we’ve already taken off,” Archer said.
Erica Carney, medical director of the city’s emergency medical services program, said it’s important to protect emergency resources for vulnerable populations.
“If you have a mild illness and are otherwise healthy, a lot of this can be done at home,” Carney said, “so what we are recommending on the hospital side is that you call your primary care physician before going to your primary care physician’s office.”
Residents can find out more about Kansas City’s coronavirus response by visiting the city’s website, kcmo.gov, or texting “COVID” to 888-777.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
