It’s easy to become numb to COVID-19 — but it’s still in Kansas, and still dangerous

Think COVID-19 is slowing down? Note the following developments from the past week:

▪ The pandemic’s confirmed death toll eclipsed 1 million worldwide, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. The United States, where the virus has killed about 205,000 people, accounts for one out of five deaths worldwide, far more than any other country.

▪ On Monday, Kansas set a record for most new cases of the coronavirus disease in a single report. The state reported 2,037 new cases over the weekend, including 251 in Sedgwick County.

▪ The days of insulated, COVID-free Kansas counties are long gone. According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, every one of the state’s 105 counties has reported positive coronavirus cases.

▪ A recent Eagle report shows that 65 counties have so many new cases of COVID-19 that they’re in the red zone for at least one metric of the state’s school-reopening guide. The guideline suggests that red-zone areas close schools to in-person classes and stop all sports practices and games.

▪ COVID quarantines have led to school closings and sports cancellations across the state, including in sparsely populated areas. Cheyenne County in the northwest corner of the state has a positive test rate of 66.15% — more than four times the red-zone threshold of 15%.

▪ At Derby High School, officials at first insisted on holding last week’s homecoming football game — despite quarantines related to confirmed COVID-19 cases — but eventually canceled on Friday afternoon. Eight cases have been tied to the football team.

▪ And just this week, we learned that Sedgwick County Manager Tom Stolz and two others in his office — the epicenter of the county’s battle against COVID-19 — have tested positive for the virus.

“I can’t recommend it,” Stoltz told The Eagle. “Wear masks and stay distant. That’s still my message.”

Unfortunately, many aren’t heeding the message, perhaps assuming — mistakenly and dangerously — that the virus just needs to run its course.

It’s easy to think COVID-19 is overblown, particularly if we feel healthy and don’t personally know anyone ill with the virus. But that’s becoming less likely, as a growing number of active coronavirus clusters are linked to churches, colleges, schools, businesses, restaurants, bars, private events and elsewhere.

The numbers aren’t good. The virus isn’t gone. It never took a summer vacation, and it’s ramping up again just in time for flu season.

It’s easy to become complacent, or just numb to the data that bombards us every day. College kids are back on campus. Wichita bars and nightclubs are back in business. Families are holding weddings and birthday bashes.

But a quick glance at the KDHE chart tracking new cases from March through September shows that we’re still very much in the first wave of this outbreak: The curve never flattened; it just keeps surging.

Wichita-area leaders and residents must renew their commitment to coronavirus safety precautions — including avoiding crowds, washing hands, and wearing face masks whenever and wherever social distancing isn’t possible.

School districts should reconsider their decision to allow high-risk sports, despite coronavirus numbers being too high for in-person classes. Conditions that prompted school closures last spring are no less threatening this fall.

COVID-19 remains a serious, life-threatening, red-zone emergency. We need to act like it.

This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 12:30 PM.