Wichita doctors urge county officials to slow down amid coronavirus pandemic

Medical experts are urging the Sedgwick County Commission to wait until at least May 11 to reopen thousands of businesses and loosen restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic to prevent the economy from having to shut down again abruptly if the virus takes off.

The recommendation to pause comes as business groups push the commission to ease restrictions as soon as possible. Gov. Laura Kelly’s stay-at-home order expires Sunday, May 3.

Before the Wichita area can reopen, more testing needs to be done, according to a panel assembled by the Medical Society of Sedgwick County.

“More testing will give experts a better understanding of our situation,” a letter sent to commissioners on Monday by the panel says.

“Sedgwick County has a very low testing rate. Until more testing is performed, we are making recommendations with incomplete and possibly incorrect information,” it says.

And when the restrictions do lift, a panel of 10 physicians from the Wichita area says, people in high-risk populations — “those on immunosuppressive medications, the elderly, those with uncontrolled diabetes, and those with chronic heart/lung/kidney disease” — should continue to shelter in place.

The panel also said that those who do venture into public spaces should wear masks or face coverings at all times. All businesses should require all employees and patrons to wear masks, according to the panel.

Public gatherings that bring people together who would normally not be in contact with each other should be avoided. Continuing virtual church services will dramatically decrease the spread of the virus, the medical experts say.

“We are concerned that opening up too soon will result in massive spread,” said Dr. Tom Moore, a Wichita infectious disease specialist on the panel. “And we’ll be right back where we started — then what do we do?”

The delay would allow the county more time to catch up on testing. Kansas ranks near the bottom of the country in tests per capita and Sedgwick County is even lower than that.

County officials have been discussing a reopening strategy with representatives of area businesses, churches, nonprofits and economic-development organizations for weeks.

On Friday, the group shared its plans with entire commission. The emergent consensus was that businesses and churches want to reopen as soon as they can, but they also want county guidance to maintain safety and limit liability if clusters of coronavirus infections surface.

County commissioners have expressed support for a sooner-rather-than-later approach to reopening. Commissioners are scheduled to discuss issues involving reopening businesses on Wednesday.

The Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce sent the commission a letter on Monday, issuing its support for “reigniting the local economy.”

The Chamber encouraged the county to evaluate the spread of the disease in Sedgwick County based on the rate of positive tests and not solely on the total number of cases, which “will inevitably increase” as testing ramps up. Current guidance from the White House is that communities should have 14 days of decreased infection before reopening.

Moore said he understands that businesses and the commissioners are under immense pressure to reopen. Wichita hasn’t yet met the criteria set by the White House for lifting restrictions, Moore said, and testing in the Wichita area has been too low to truly understand the level of local infection.

The virus didn’t hit Kansas until later than other states that are now beginning to reopen, and it wasn’t detected in the Wichita area until even later, the panel said. The group’s recommendation says that’s one of the reasons Sedgwick County should wait at least another week.

“I, personally, am extremely nervous about what’s going to happen if we start to see a surge of cases again,” Moore said. “Then we would have to shutdown again. That’s going to be a very bitter pill to swallow for everyone involved.”

Restaurants present specific challenges.

“Eating and drinking preclude the use of masks, and restaurants bring groups together that otherwise wouldn’t be together,” the panel’s recommendation says. “Experts in the field must put together a detailed plan for theses high-risk environments.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 4:59 PM.