As Wichita-area schools start classes, Kansas Gov. Kelly fears coronavirus outbreaks
As schools in the Wichita area start classes this week, the Kansas governor fears outbreaks of the coronavirus.
“As we come off a holiday weekend, as our children return to school, as sports practices resume and students flood back to college campuses, I fear we will continue to see these large outbreaks,” Gov. Laura Kelly said Monday.
Public school districts in Andover, Derby, Goddard, Haysville, Maize and Wichita all start classes this week.
There have been at least five outbreaks at schools, 15 at sporting events and 27 at colleges or universities in Kansas. Those clusters account for 584 cases of COVID-19 and three hospitalizations due to the coronavirus disease.
Those numbers were last updated by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Friday. No cluster updates were available as part of the KDHE’s Monday report due to the Labor Day holiday.
Starting Wednesday, the KDHE will identify active clusters with a minimum number of cases.
“By sharing outbreak locations, Kansans will be better informed about the threat of COVID-19 in their communities, and will be better prepared to mitigate the virus’s spread,” Kelly said.
Even though classes haven’t started yet, Wichita schools have had staff members test positive or be placed in quarantine due to possible exposure.
A Friday report from Wichita Public Schools listed a total of 189 employees out of about 7,308 on-site employees were under quarantine due to the pandemic. There were 51 new employees added to the list last week.
Four staff members at four different schools in USD 259 tested positive last week.
“Teachers, I know this year is already proving to be very different and has presented many challenges for you and for your students,” Kelly said. “Please know that my administration is behind you every step of the way, and I know that regardless of the politics, I will fight to put your health and the health of your students first.”
An executive order issued by Kelly in July requires face masks and other safety measures at public and private schools, though the Kansas attorney general said counties can opt out of the order. The Sedgwick County Commission is scheduled to discuss the order at its Wednesday meeting.
Several pandemic indicators — especially the school reopening criteria of the county incidence rate and the positive test rate — have improved in Sedgwick County since wearing face masks became required by law.
While the Wichita area has seen improvement, parts of Kansas have not, especially college towns that have struggled to contain outbreaks as students returned. Case counts from the KDHE have more than doubled in the home counties of Lawrence, Manhattan and Pittsburg.
In Douglas County, home to the University of Kansas, cases have increased 134% between Aug. 3 and Sept. 7. In Riley County, home to Kansas State University, the increase was 146%. And in Crawford County, the home to Pittsburg State University, the increase was 105%.
Comparatively, the Sedgwick County increase was 71% and the Kansas increase was 62%.
The incidence rate, which is a weekly measure of new cases compared to population, has trended downward for three weeks in a row in Sedgwick County. Statewide, it decreased for the last two weeks. The positive test rate has also trended downward in Sedgwick County during that time while it has stayed stable for Kansas as a whole.
On Monday, the KDHE reported 1,694 new cases and four new deaths over the weekend.
“I am very concerned at the way our case numbers continue to grow,” Kelly said. “... We have seen consistent increases in new cases and stability in test positivity, and that trend will only continue if we as Kansans are not diligent about the COVID-19 mitigation practices every single day.”
This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 6:05 PM.