By the Associated Press and KFDI News:
Doctors in Kansas and Missouri are hunting down ventilators and running out of monoclonal antibodies as COVID-19 patient counts hit pandemic highs at a growing number of hospitals. Health officials for hospitals in the Kansas City and Wichita areas issued a desperate plea Wednesday for people to wear masks and avoid crowds.
Sedgwick County reported 1,750 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and the county has a positive testing rate of 21.2 percent, more than double what it was a month ago.
Hospitals in Wichita are in a critical status, with a total of 253 patients this week and 77 of them in intensive care.
Sedgwick County commissioners talked about the situation at their regular meeting Wednesday morning, and Commissioner Lacey Cruse said there needs to be a discussion on what to do to slow the spread and help hospital systems.
Commissioner David Dennis said there is no will for any new mask mandates. He said just over 50 percent of county residents are vaccinated, and he feels it would be a battle to get the other 50 percent to wear masks. He also pointed out that a new state law allows citizens to sue counties over COVID-19 restrictions. Dennis said people need to get the vaccine, and that’s the only way for the community to get through the pandemic. He said he’s baffled at the reasoning behind the refusal of some people to get vaccinated.
Commissioner Sarah Lopez said there are people waiting days in the emergency rooms for treatment, and it this is affecting anyone who is seriously sick and needing hospitalization. She said beyond COVID precautions, people should be safe and try to avoid illness or injury because there aren’t enough hospital beds.
