COVID-19 clusters threaten lives. Why won’t Kansas officials tell us where they are?
On Monday, Sedgwick County health officials announced two new coronavirus clusters — a second cluster at a nursing home and a third outbreak at a local business.
When The Eagle tried to confirm details about the location of the new Wichita-area outbreaks, officials refused to name them.
State officials, too, have been mum, despite data showing that clusters account for a third of coronavirus cases in Kansas and more than two-thirds of COVID-related deaths.
Kristi Zears, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said the agency does not release information regarding the identity of clusters “unless the entity has self-identified or identified in the media.”
“Often times, local health departments and the facility(ies) may put something out jointly,” Zears told The Kansas City Star.
Officials repeatedly have cited privacy concerns as the reason for keeping details of clusters secret — including several church clusters at the center of a debate about restricting religious gatherings. They worry that disclosing cluster sites could make individuals more easily identifiable.
They also say they don’t divulge details if they believe a cluster is contained and the general public is not at risk.
That’s not good enough.
The public must have accurate, complete information during a public health crisis, particularly when it comes to where and when residents may have been exposed to the virus.
Kansas shouldn’t leave it up to counties — and certainly not to individual businesses, nursing homes, churches, or other facilities — to provide information.
Many health experts note that it was the government’s suppression of information about the virus in China that allowed it to spread quickly before measures were taken to stem it.
I. Glenn Cohen, an expert in bioethics at Harvard Law School, said in a New York Times article last month that the guiding principle during the COVID-19 pandemic should be sharing more rather than less.
“Public health depends a lot on public trust,” Cohen told the Times. “If the public feels as though they are being misled or misinformed, their willingness to make sacrifices — in this case, social distancing — is reduced.”
It’s understandable that private entities might hesitate to divulge much information. Susie Santo, president and CEO of Visit Wichita, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, told county leaders last week that “the ramifications, if the site becomes, you know, a (COVID-19) cluster, are significant.”
That’s why it’s imperative that state officials take the lead, and that they’re transparent, fair and consistent in identifying coronavirus clusters.
Businesses that openly communicate discoveries of multiple COVID-19 cases — such as the Mel Hambelton Ford car dealership in Wichita — should be commended for valuing public safety over commercial interests.
But even that example lacks total transparency. A news release identified an outbreak at the Mel Hambelton car dealership but gave the address of the service center. When an Eagle reporter requested clarification on whether the cluster was at the dealership, service center or both, a county spokeswoman did not say.
During this public health crisis, Kansans have been asked to sacrifice some individual liberties for the greater good, and that requires trust.
To maintain that trust, our leaders — whether elected or appointed — must be open and honest about any threat to our health and our lives.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 4:17 PM.