Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran admits that COVID-19 has made it tough to tell the future on anything, but it is still his intent to see passenger rail remain alive through Kansas and westward.

"I'm an advocate for Amtrak generally and the Southwest Chief in particular," Moran said. "I also know a group of Kansans who are working hard to see if there can be an additional line that goes south to Texas. We want to be helpful to those who enjoy and appreciate Amtrak and make sure its available for long distance."

Moran has done everything he can do to be sure leadership is committed to the Southwest Chief.

"I've held up the nominations of three or four, now maybe five or six members of the Amtrak board, until they, in writing, commit to me to be advocates for the Southwest Chief and long distance passenger service. All but one has made that commitment and that other one has not yet been confirmed as a result of our hold."

He also had a recent conversation with the Amtrak CEO, William J. Flynn.

"Meeting, in this case, meant by phone," Moran said. "He assured me that once the reduction in the demand for passenger service that has occurred as a result of COVID-19, the pandemic, resolves itself, that Amtrak would be up to running its trains at its regular schedule, more days per week than what they're doing at the moment, as soon as COVID consequences are diminished."

The route is due to drop to three days a week next month, at least through the winter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592423924832.png" alt="Photo courtesy Amtrak" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Amtrak</figcaption>
 </figure>Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran admits that COVID-19 has made it tough to tell the future on anything, but it is still his intent to see passenger rail remain alive through Kansas and westward."I'm an advocate for Amtrak generally and the Southwest Chief in particular," Moran said. "I also know a group of Kansans who are working hard to see if there can be an additional line that goes south to Texas. We want to be helpful to those who enjoy and appreciate Amtrak and make sure its available for long distance."Moran has done everything he can do to be sure leadership is committed to the Southwest Chief."I've held up the nominations of three or four, now maybe five or six members of the Amtrak board, until they, in writing, commit to me to be advocates for the Southwest Chief and long distance passenger service. All but one has made that commitment and that other one has not yet been confirmed as a result of our hold."He also had a recent conversation with the Amtrak CEO, William J. Flynn."Meeting, in this case, meant by phone," Moran said. "He assured me that once the reduction in the demand for passenger service that has occurred as a result of COVID-19, the pandemic, resolves itself, that Amtrak would be up to running its trains at its regular schedule, more days per week than what they're doing at the moment, as soon as COVID consequences are diminished."The route is due to drop to three days a week next month, at least through the winter.

Moran: Still committed to Amtrak service, but COVID-19 makes it difficult

HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;A free-market policy group in Kansas is attempting to <a href="https://kansaspolicy.org/covid/">make publicly available</a> statistics on hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 easier for Kansans to digest.

What we've tried to do is put things in perspective," said Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute. "There's charts here, for example, there's one showing the new weekly cases across the state of Kansas and it's certainly showing an uptick. At the same time that's going up, you see the mortality rate falling."

The Kansas Policy Institute's COVID-19 Information Center has information on:

1. Comparative trends – cases, hospitalizations, and deaths

2. Cases, deaths, mortality rate and infection rate by county

3. Cases and deaths in Kansas nursing homes and other clusters

4. Hospitalization and death rate trends in Kansas

5. Hospital beds available in Kansas and regional states

"On July 6, there were almost 17,000 cases and a little over 1200 people hospitalized, so it was a cumulative rate of 7.31%," Trabert said. "That's down to 5.37%. This is cumulative. What's happened in between there that's brought that down? Only about 4% of the cases that have developed required hospitalization."

This is consistent with the hypothesis of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center pulmonologist Dr. Mohammed Al-Halawani earlier this month that it appears that COVID-19 is <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/79d51c33-f810-40f7-95b9-58c16fb51fbf">more infectious now than it was earlier in the year, but less severe</a>, particularly for those without underlying comorbidities.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599560975324.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;A free-market policy group in Kansas is attempting to <a href="https://kansaspolicy.org/covid/">make publicly available</a> statistics on hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 easier for Kansans to digest.What we've tried to do is put things in perspective," said Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute. "There's charts here, for example, there's one showing the new weekly cases across the state of Kansas and it's certainly showing an uptick. At the same time that's going up, you see the mortality rate falling."The Kansas Policy Institute's COVID-19 Information Center has information on:1. Comparative trends – cases, hospitalizations, and deaths2. Cases, deaths, mortality rate and infection rate by county3. Cases and deaths in Kansas nursing homes and other clusters4. Hospitalization and death rate trends in Kansas5. Hospital beds available in Kansas and regional states6. Cases and deaths by state7. Pneumonia, COVID, and flu deaths8. COVID economic impact"On July 6, there were almost 17,000 cases and a little over 1200 people hospitalized, so it was a cumulative rate of 7.31%," Trabert said. "That's down to 5.37%. This is cumulative. What's happened in between there that's brought that down? Only about 4% of the cases that have developed required hospitalization."This is consistent with the hypothesis of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center pulmonologist Dr. Mohammed Al-Halawani earlier this month that it appears that COVID-19 is <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/79d51c33-f810-40f7-95b9-58c16fb51fbf">more infectious now than it was earlier in the year, but less severe</a>, particularly for those without underlying comorbidities.

Kansas Policy Institute providing COVID-19 statistics

Isolation? Quarantine? KDHE offers guidance

Release from Reno County Health Department

As schools have resumed in-person classes, school districts within Reno County and the Reno County Health Department continue to work together in keeping employees and students safe and well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the event a student or employee is identified as laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive; the school will assist in identifying all close contacts of the COVID-19 person. If the close contact is a student, the student will either be sent home and parents will be notified OR the parents will be contacted to pick up their child to quarantine while waiting for the Reno County Health Department to call with additional information regarding their quarantine. The same quarantine guidance also applies to all teachers and staff if they are identified as a close contact.

The purpose of contact tracing is to interrupt the ongoing transmission of COVID-19 and reduce the spread of the virus. By identifying close contacts of those with COVID-19 we are able to continue to keep everyone safe, slow down the spread of the virus, and continue to keep our schools open.

Although you may “feel fine” during your quarantine; it is extremely important for all close contacts to fully follow the quarantine guidelines set by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Reno County Health Department. Symptoms may appear and you could be considered contagious anywhere from 2-14 days after you were last exposed to the virus. If at any time during your quarantine you start to develop symptoms it is encouraged to contact your medical provider.

We are all in this together and it will take each of us doing our part to slow the spread of COVID-19. Please continue to be vigilant by washing your hands, social distance by at least six feet or more, wear a mask when you are in public places and stay at home if you are not feeling well. It is very important that people continue to follow the guidelines to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589472383275.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Release from Reno County Health DepartmentAs schools have resumed in-person classes, school districts within Reno County and the Reno County Health Department continue to work together in keeping employees and students safe and well during the COVID-19 pandemic.In the event a student or employee is identified as laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive; the school will assist in identifying all close contacts of the COVID-19 person. If the close contact is a student, the student will either be sent home and parents will be notified OR the parents will be contacted to pick up their child to quarantine while waiting for the Reno County Health Department to call with additional information regarding their quarantine. The same quarantine guidance also applies to all teachers and staff if they are identified as a close contact.The purpose of contact tracing is to interrupt the ongoing transmission of COVID-19 and reduce the spread of the virus. By identifying close contacts of those with COVID-19 we are able to continue to keep everyone safe, slow down the spread of the virus, and continue to keep our schools open.Although you may “feel fine” during your quarantine; it is extremely important for all close contacts to fully follow the quarantine guidelines set by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Reno County Health Department. Symptoms may appear and you could be considered contagious anywhere from 2-14 days after you were last exposed to the virus. If at any time during your quarantine you start to develop symptoms it is encouraged to contact your medical provider.We are all in this together and it will take each of us doing our part to slow the spread of COVID-19. Please continue to be vigilant by washing your hands, social distance by at least six feet or more, wear a mask when you are in public places and stay at home if you are not feeling well. It is very important that people continue to follow the guidelines to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

Health Department clarifies policy for schools on COVID-19 tracing

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Hundreds are quarantined at several Kansas universities as a growing number of students test positive for the coronavirus, raising concerns that they could bring the virus home with them over the upcoming holiday weekend.

At Pittsburg State University, 96 positive COVID-19 cases have been recorded among students since the fall semester began Aug. 17, officials said during a media briefing Wednesday. Currently, 101 people are in isolation, or separated from people who are not sick, and about 600 are in quarantine, or separated for the monitoring of the development of symptoms.

Pittsburg State officials are “strongly suggesting” that students remain in Pittsburg over the coming Labor Day weekend.

“We feel we have a good handle on the situation here,” Tim Stebbins, the public health officer in Crawford County, where Pittsburg is located. “We don’t need the virus coming in and out due to student travel.”

At Emporia State University, officials announced Wednesday that all athletic activities were temporarily suspended. The school said in a news release that total of 14 student-athletes out of more than 400 spread across all teams had tested positive for COVID-19.

The University of Kansas announced Wednesday that the number of positive cases resulting from compulsory testing of students arriving on campus had grown to 546, for a 2.42% overall positivity rate, according to a&nbsp;<a href="http://chancellor.ku.edu/news/2020/sep2" target="_blank">news release</a>. Among fraternities and sororities, the percentage testing positive shrank from 10% to 8.38% as the houses added freshmen members who had lower rates of infection to their ranks. Nine Greek houses were places on quarantine last week.

At Benedictine College in Atchison, health officials in the county want to put all of the school’s 2,000 students in quarantine for 14 days. Under the plan, students would only leave their residential quarters to obtain packed meals from the cafeteria and participate in religious services.

Currently, 16 students are in isolation in the community after testing positive and 132 are in quarantine as a precaution because they may have been exposed, said college spokesman Steve Johnson. He said the school thinks it has adequate mitigation in place and quarantining all students is “not the best solution.” No final decision has been made.

Statewide, Kansas reported 1,328 new COVID-19 cases from Monday to Wednesday, bringing the state’s confirmed total to 43,940. That includes 15 sports clusters with 119 cases. Health officials also reported an additional 12 COVID-19-related deaths for a statewide death toll of 458.

One of the deadliest outbreaks was at Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation in Wyandotte County, where 37 residents died, KCUR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-09-03/scathing-federal-inspection-pulls-curtain-back-on-one-of-kansas-deadliest-coronavirus-outbreaksKCUR" target="_blank">reports</a>. A newly released scathing federal report said that weeks into the outbreak, inspectors still saw health workers caring for COVID-19 patients without proper protective gear.

Riverbend argued a federal law shields it against 12 lawsuits that have been filed, but a federal judge rejected the argument two weeks ago.

“This report just confirms the allegations we’ve already made,” said Rachel Stahle, a lawyer representing families in seven of the lawsuits.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Hundreds are quarantined at several Kansas universities as a growing number of students test positive for the coronavirus, raising concerns that they could bring the virus home with them over the upcoming holiday weekend.At Pittsburg State University, 96 positive COVID-19 cases have been recorded among students since the fall semester began Aug. 17, officials said during a media briefing Wednesday. Currently, 101 people are in isolation, or separated from people who are not sick, and about 600 are in quarantine, or separated for the monitoring of the development of symptoms.Pittsburg State officials are “strongly suggesting” that students remain in Pittsburg over the coming Labor Day weekend.“We feel we have a good handle on the situation here,” Tim Stebbins, the public health officer in Crawford County, where Pittsburg is located. “We don’t need the virus coming in and out due to student travel.”At Emporia State University, officials announced Wednesday that all athletic activities were temporarily suspended. The school said in a news release that total of 14 student-athletes out of more than 400 spread across all teams had tested positive for COVID-19.The University of Kansas announced Wednesday that the number of positive cases resulting from compulsory testing of students arriving on campus had grown to 546, for a 2.42% overall positivity rate, according to a&nbsp;<a href="http://chancellor.ku.edu/news/2020/sep2" target="_blank">news release</a>. Among fraternities and sororities, the percentage testing positive shrank from 10% to 8.38% as the houses added freshmen members who had lower rates of infection to their ranks. Nine Greek houses were places on quarantine last week.At Benedictine College in Atchison, health officials in the county want to put all of the school’s 2,000 students in quarantine for 14 days. Under the plan, students would only leave their residential quarters to obtain packed meals from the cafeteria and participate in religious services.Currently, 16 students are in isolation in the community after testing positive and 132 are in quarantine as a precaution because they may have been exposed, said college spokesman Steve Johnson. He said the school thinks it has adequate mitigation in place and quarantining all students is “not the best solution.” No final decision has been made.Statewide, Kansas reported 1,328 new COVID-19 cases from Monday to Wednesday, bringing the state’s confirmed total to 43,940. That includes 15 sports clusters with 119 cases. Health officials also reported an additional 12 COVID-19-related deaths for a statewide death toll of 458.One of the deadliest outbreaks was at Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation in Wyandotte County, where 37 residents died, KCUR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-09-03/scathing-federal-inspection-pulls-curtain-back-on-one-of-kansas-deadliest-coronavirus-outbreaksKCUR" target="_blank">reports</a>. A newly released scathing federal report said that weeks into the outbreak, inspectors still saw health workers caring for COVID-19 patients without proper protective gear.Riverbend argued a federal law shields it against 12 lawsuits that have been filed, but a federal judge rejected the argument two weeks ago.“This report just confirms the allegations we’ve already made,” said Rachel Stahle, a lawyer representing families in seven of the lawsuits.

Hundreds in quarantine after COVID-19 outbreaks at Kan. schools 

Those taking care of youngsters in the Salt City can get some help.

"The City Council allocated part of our CDBG-CV funds for just daycare, the childcare providers," said Ryan Hvitlok with the city. "We are opening that up, a microgrant of, I believe, the maximum is $2500. The closing date would be September 15."

"CDBG-CV funds can be used for preparation or response to the coronavirus," Hvitlok said. "If they have incurred costs for hand sanitizer, purchasing PPE, those type of things, that would be an allowed expense."

If there's been a reduction in head count, the money can also be used for rent, utlities or payroll, as long as they haven't gotten other federal money.

"The only other stipulation, this is from the feds and not from the city, is that it has to be a business, a for profit institution," Hvitlok said. "Unfortunately non-profits would not be eligible."

$12,500 of CDBG-CV grant funds were allocated for the program.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1598971851425.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Those taking care of youngsters in the Salt City can get some help."The City Council allocated part of our CDBG-CV funds for just daycare, the childcare providers," said Ryan Hvitlok with the city. "We are opening that up, a microgrant of, I believe, the maximum is $2500. The closing date would be September 15."There are some limits on the program."CDBG-CV funds can be used for preparation or response to the coronavirus," Hvitlok said. "If they have incurred costs for hand sanitizer, purchasing PPE, those type of things, that would be an allowed expense."If there's been a reduction in head count, the money can also be used for rent, utlities or payroll, as long as they haven't gotten other federal money."The only other stipulation, this is from the feds and not from the city, is that it has to be a business, a for profit institution," Hvitlok said. "Unfortunately non-profits would not be eligible."$12,500 of CDBG-CV grant funds were allocated for the program.

For profit daycares can get grant money for COVID response


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;In a Zoom video posted to Buhler USD 313's Facebook Tuesday night, Reno County Health Department Interim Director Karen Hammersmith explained the important numbers that will help shape policy for how open schools are this fall in Reno County.

"It really goes with the positive test rate in your community," Hammersmith said. "You can get your gating criteria from that positive test rate."

As of the Tuesday afternoon report on the Reno County COVID-19 dashboard, the overall positive test rate in the county is 10.93%, but if you take out the cases related to the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, the positive test rate is 7.13%.

Under the gating criteria provided on the video Tuesday, the county would be under a yellow condition, as the positive test rate is between 5.7% and 10% for the community outside of the prison population and there are 50 non-prison related active cases in the county. The case count alone would put the county in the green, but in combination with the positive test rate, they would be in the yellow. Hammersmith contends that such numbers would only be valid if testing were done differently.

"We are only testing patients that we feel like are going to probably have COVID," Hammersmith said. "We're testing symptomatic patients that are sick, presenting with symptoms. Of course, our positive test rate is going to be a little bit more elevated, because we're not doing community testing. We're not trying to test people out and about with no symptoms that haven't been surrounded by anybody."

There is a belief that if community testing were done, that the positive test rate would be lower.

"This positive test rate, it makes a lot of sense, if we can reach a minimum testing percentage by the month," said Buhler USD 313 Superintendent Cindy Couchman. "Our goal is obviously to get to 1.8% of our population tested for every two-week period, which is like 3.6% of our population."

Until that threshold of testing is reached, new case count numbers will carry the day. In other words, the number to watch at this point is new case count. It is not currently available as its own statistic on the county's dashboard. 

"This is a two week number of community cases," Couchman said. "This is going to be hand calculated by D.J. and the Health Department and worked to give to us, this whole Reno County team of the Health Department, the Hutchinson Clinic, Dr. Pauly and the Reno County Superintendents to take this data."

The County will be in the green as long as it remains under 56 new active non-prison cases. Between 57 and 61, there will be consultation with the Health Department. From 62 to 113 would be a yellow condition, 114 to 118 would be another consultation, 119 to 170 would put the county in the orange and over 175 would be a red condition. Again, this is all general population two-week case count, leaving aside any cases that may be active at Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

Between the lack of that specific number being readily available on the dashboard as of Wednesday morning and the fact that each color threshold has a gray area between them, a lot of the power for the decision making will remain in the hands of the local superintendents and their school boards.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599043662066.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;In a Zoom video posted to Buhler USD 313's Facebook Tuesday night, Reno County Health Department Interim Director Karen Hammersmith explained the important numbers that will help shape policy for how open schools are this fall in Reno County."It really goes with the positive test rate in your community," Hammersmith said. "You can get your gating criteria from that positive test rate."As of the Tuesday afternoon report on the Reno County COVID-19 dashboard, the overall positive test rate in the county is 10.93%, but if you take out the cases related to the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, the positive test rate is 7.13%.Under the gating criteria provided on the video Tuesday, the county would be under a yellow condition, as the positive test rate is between 5.7% and 10% for the community outside of the prison population and there are 50 non-prison related active cases in the county. The case count alone would put the county in the green, but in combination with the positive test rate, they would be in the yellow. Hammersmith contends that such numbers would only be valid if testing were done differently."We are only testing patients that we feel like are going to probably have COVID," Hammersmith said. "We're testing symptomatic patients that are sick, presenting with symptoms. Of course, our positive test rate is going to be a little bit more elevated, because we're not doing community testing. We're not trying to test people out and about with no symptoms that haven't been surrounded by anybody."There is a belief that if community testing were done, that the positive test rate would be lower."This positive test rate, it makes a lot of sense, if we can reach a minimum testing percentage by the month," said Buhler USD 313 Superintendent Cindy Couchman. "Our goal is obviously to get to 1.8% of our population tested for every two-week period, which is like 3.6% of our population."Until that threshold of testing is reached, new case count numbers will carry the day. In other words, the number to watch at this point is new case count. It is not currently available as its own statistic on the county's dashboard. "This is a two week number of community cases," Couchman said. "This is going to be hand calculated by D.J. and the Health Department and worked to give to us, this whole Reno County team of the Health Department, the Hutchinson Clinic, Dr. Pauly and the Reno County Superintendents to take this data."The County will be in the green as long as it remains under 56 new active non-prison cases. Between 57 and 61, there will be consultation with the Health Department. From 62 to 113 would be a yellow condition, 114 to 118 would be another consultation, 119 to 170 would put the county in the orange and over 175 would be a red condition. Again, this is all general population two-week case count, leaving aside any cases that may be active at Hutchinson Correctional Facility.Between the lack of that specific number being readily available on the dashboard as of Wednesday morning and the fact that each color threshold has a gray area between them, a lot of the power for the decision making will remain in the hands of the local superintendents and their school boards.

Reno County gating criteria not hard and fast

A handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work as a U.S. advisory panel suggested Tuesday a way to ration the first limited doses once a vaccine wins approval.

AstraZeneca announced Monday its vaccine candidate has entered the final testing stage in the U.S. The Cambridge, England-based company said the study will involve up to 30,000 adults from various racial, ethnic and geographic groups.

Two other vaccine candidates began final testing this summer in tens of thousands of people in the U.S. One was created by the National Institutes of Health and manufactured by Moderna Inc., and the other developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech.

“To have just one vaccine enter the final stage of trials eight months after discovering a virus would be a remarkable achievement; to have three at that point with more on the way is extraordinary,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

NIH Director Francis Collins tweeted that his agency "is supporting several vaccine trials since more than one may be needed. We have all hands on deck."

AstraZeneca said development of the vaccine, known as AZD1222, is moving ahead globally with late-stage trials in the U.K., Brazil and South Africa. Further trials are planned in Japan and Russia. The potential vaccine was invented by the University of Oxford and an associated company, Vaccitech.

Meanwhile, a U.S. advisory panel released a draft plan Tuesday for how to ration the first doses of vaccine. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine proposed giving the first vaccine doses — initial supplies are expected to be limited to up to 15 million people — to high-risk health care workers and first responders.

Next, older residents of nursing homes and other crowded facilities and people of all ages with health conditions that put them at significant danger would be given priority. In following waves of vaccination, teachers, other school staff, workers in essential industries, and people living in homeless shelters, group homes, prisons and other facilities would get the shots.

Healthy children, young adults and everyone else would not get the first vaccinations, but would be able to get them once supplies increase.

The panel of experts described “a moral imperative” to lessen the heavy disease burden of COVID-19 on Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and suggested state and local authorities could target vulnerable neighborhoods using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The National Academies will solicit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nap.edu/vaccine/">public comments</a>&nbsp;on the plan through Friday.

There’s a good reason so many COVID-19 vaccines are in development.

“The first vaccines that come out are probably not going to be the best vaccines,” Dr. Nicole Lurie, who helped lead pandemic planning under the Obama administration, said at a University of Minnesota vaccine symposium.

There’s no guarantee that any of the leading candidates will pan out — and the bar is higher than for COVID-19 treatments, because these vaccines will be given to healthy people. Final testing, experts stress, must be in large numbers of people to know if they’re safe enough for mass vaccinations.

They’re made in a wide variety of ways, each with pros and cons. One problem: Most of the leading candidates are being tested with two doses, which lengthens the time required to get an answer — and, if one works, to fully vaccinate people.

Another: They’re all shots. Vaccine experts are closely watching development of some nasal-spray alternatives that just might begin the first step of human testing later this year — late to the race, but possibly advantageous against a virus that sneaks into the airways.

For now, here’s a scorecard of vaccines that already have begun or are getting close to final-stage tests:

The Moderna and Pfizer candidates began Phase 3 testing in late July.

Neither uses the actual coronavirus. Instead, they’re made with the genetic code for the aptly named “spike” protein that coats the surface of the coronavirus. Inject the vaccine containing that code, called mRNA, and the body’s cells will make some harmless spike protein — just enough for the immune system to respond, priming it to react if it later encounters the real virus.

These mRNA vaccines are easier and faster to make than traditional vaccines, but it’s a new and unproven technology.

Britain’s Oxford University and AstraZeneca are making what scientists call a “viral vector” vaccine but a good analogy is the Trojan horse. The shots are made with a harmless virus — a cold virus that normally infects chimpanzees — that carries the spike protein’s genetic material into the body. Once again, the body produces some spike protein and primes the immune system, but it, too, is a fairly new technology.

Two possible competitors are made with different human cold viruses.

Shots made by Johnson &amp; Johnson began initial human studies in late July. The company plans to begin Phase 3 testing in September in as many as 60,000 people in the U.S. and elsewhere.

China’s government authorized emergency use of CanSino Biologics’ adenovirus shots in the military ahead of any final testing.

Making vaccines by growing a disease-causing virus and then killing it is a tried-and-true approach — it’s the way Jonas Salk’s famed polio shots were made. China has three so-called “inactivated” vaccine candidates against COVID-19 made this way.

Sinovac has final studies of its candidate underway in Brazil and Indonesia. Competitor SinoPharm has announced plans for final testing in some other countries.

Safely brewing and then killing the virus takes longer than newer technologies. But inactivated vaccines give the body a sneak peek at the germ itself rather than just that single spike protein.

Novavax makes “protein subunit” vaccines, growing harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in the laboratory and packaging them into virus-sized nanoparticles.

There are protein-based vaccines against other diseases, so it’s not as novel a technology as some of its competitors. But it only recently finished its first-step study; the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed aims for advanced testing later in the fall.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and CARLA K. JOHNSONAP Medical WritersA handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work as a U.S. advisory panel suggested Tuesday a way to ration the first limited doses once a vaccine wins approval.AstraZeneca announced Monday its vaccine candidate has entered the final testing stage in the U.S. The Cambridge, England-based company said the study will involve up to 30,000 adults from various racial, ethnic and geographic groups.Two other vaccine candidates began final testing this summer in tens of thousands of people in the U.S. One was created by the National Institutes of Health and manufactured by Moderna Inc., and the other developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech.“To have just one vaccine enter the final stage of trials eight months after discovering a virus would be a remarkable achievement; to have three at that point with more on the way is extraordinary,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.NIH Director Francis Collins tweeted that his agency "is supporting several vaccine trials since more than one may be needed. We have all hands on deck."AstraZeneca said development of the vaccine, known as AZD1222, is moving ahead globally with late-stage trials in the U.K., Brazil and South Africa. Further trials are planned in Japan and Russia. The potential vaccine was invented by the University of Oxford and an associated company, Vaccitech.Meanwhile, a U.S. advisory panel released a draft plan Tuesday for how to ration the first doses of vaccine. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine proposed giving the first vaccine doses — initial supplies are expected to be limited to up to 15 million people — to high-risk health care workers and first responders.Next, older residents of nursing homes and other crowded facilities and people of all ages with health conditions that put them at significant danger would be given priority. In following waves of vaccination, teachers, other school staff, workers in essential industries, and people living in homeless shelters, group homes, prisons and other facilities would get the shots.Healthy children, young adults and everyone else would not get the first vaccinations, but would be able to get them once supplies increase.The panel of experts described “a moral imperative” to lessen the heavy disease burden of COVID-19 on Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and suggested state and local authorities could target vulnerable neighborhoods using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The National Academies will solicit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nap.edu/vaccine/">public comments</a>&nbsp;on the plan through Friday.There’s a good reason so many COVID-19 vaccines are in development.“The first vaccines that come out are probably not going to be the best vaccines,” Dr. Nicole Lurie, who helped lead pandemic planning under the Obama administration, said at a University of Minnesota vaccine symposium.There’s no guarantee that any of the leading candidates will pan out — and the bar is higher than for COVID-19 treatments, because these vaccines will be given to healthy people. Final testing, experts stress, must be in large numbers of people to know if they’re safe enough for mass vaccinations.They’re made in a wide variety of ways, each with pros and cons. One problem: Most of the leading candidates are being tested with two doses, which lengthens the time required to get an answer — and, if one works, to fully vaccinate people.Another: They’re all shots. Vaccine experts are closely watching development of some nasal-spray alternatives that just might begin the first step of human testing later this year — late to the race, but possibly advantageous against a virus that sneaks into the airways.For now, here’s a scorecard of vaccines that already have begun or are getting close to final-stage tests:GENETIC CODE VACCINESThe Moderna and Pfizer candidates began Phase 3 testing in late July.Neither uses the actual coronavirus. Instead, they’re made with the genetic code for the aptly named “spike” protein that coats the surface of the coronavirus. Inject the vaccine containing that code, called mRNA, and the body’s cells will make some harmless spike protein — just enough for the immune system to respond, priming it to react if it later encounters the real virus.These mRNA vaccines are easier and faster to make than traditional vaccines, but it’s a new and unproven technology.TROJAN HORSE VACCINESBritain’s Oxford University and AstraZeneca are making what scientists call a “viral vector” vaccine but a good analogy is the Trojan horse. The shots are made with a harmless virus — a cold virus that normally infects chimpanzees — that carries the spike protein’s genetic material into the body. Once again, the body produces some spike protein and primes the immune system, but it, too, is a fairly new technology.Two possible competitors are made with different human cold viruses.Shots made by Johnson &amp; Johnson began initial human studies in late July. The company plans to begin Phase 3 testing in September in as many as 60,000 people in the U.S. and elsewhere.China’s government authorized emergency use of CanSino Biologics’ adenovirus shots in the military ahead of any final testing.‘KILLED’ VACCINESMaking vaccines by growing a disease-causing virus and then killing it is a tried-and-true approach — it’s the way Jonas Salk’s famed polio shots were made. China has three so-called “inactivated” vaccine candidates against COVID-19 made this way.Sinovac has final studies of its candidate underway in Brazil and Indonesia. Competitor SinoPharm has announced plans for final testing in some other countries.Safely brewing and then killing the virus takes longer than newer technologies. But inactivated vaccines give the body a sneak peek at the germ itself rather than just that single spike protein.PROTEIN VACCINESNovavax makes “protein subunit” vaccines, growing harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in the laboratory and packaging them into virus-sized nanoparticles.There are protein-based vaccines against other diseases, so it’s not as novel a technology as some of its competitors. But it only recently finished its first-step study; the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed aims for advanced testing later in the fall.___

Third virus vaccine reaches major hurdle: final US testing


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;A pathologist with Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System is encouraged by the potential use for convalescent plasma among COVID-19 patients at the hospital.

The convalescent plasma, basically what that is, is somebody that's had the disease, they make antibodies to it and fight it off," said Dr. Rex Degner. "I can take their plasma, harvest those antibodies and give that to a patient to just have it help knock down their viral load so they have less of it. It will slow down and ease the disease process in a number of patients."

If you've recovered from COVID-19, you can help.

"We actively encourage anybody that knows that they've tested positive for COVID to consider, twenty-eight days after they are over their infection, contact the Red Cross, donate your plasma," Degner said. "That plasma is available for us here in Hutchinson to give to our community members that need it."

The Red Cross will do the testing, once you have contacted them.

"You can contact the Red Cross and they will measure the level of antibodies in your system," Degner said. "If you have enough, then they will see if you are willing to donate your plasma, it's a one time donation, to give to other patients. The Red Cross will ask you a series of questions and then do a simple blood test."

It's also worth donating blood to get tested for the antibodies as well, as the Red Cross is doing antibody testing on the blood of any donor at this time.

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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;A pathologist with Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System is encouraged by the potential use for convalescent plasma among COVID-19 patients at the hospital.The convalescent plasma, basically what that is, is somebody that's had the disease, they make antibodies to it and fight it off," said Dr. Rex Degner. "I can take their plasma, harvest those antibodies and give that to a patient to just have it help knock down their viral load so they have less of it. It will slow down and ease the disease process in a number of patients."If you've recovered from COVID-19, you can help."We actively encourage anybody that knows that they've tested positive for COVID to consider, twenty-eight days after they are over their infection, contact the Red Cross, donate your plasma," Degner said. "That plasma is available for us here in Hutchinson to give to our community members that need it."The Red Cross will do the testing, once you have contacted them."You can contact the Red Cross and they will measure the level of antibodies in your system," Degner said. "If you have enough, then they will see if you are willing to donate your plasma, it's a one time donation, to give to other patients. The Red Cross will ask you a series of questions and then do a simple blood test."It's also worth donating blood to get tested for the antibodies as well, as the Red Cross is doing antibody testing on the blood of any donor at this time.

HRMC doctor encourages convalescent plasma donation

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not “backpedal” on the number of deaths caused by COVID-19, reducing the figure from nearly 154,000 to just over 9,000, as social media posts claimed.

The term “Only 6%” trended widely on Twitter over the weekend as supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory promoted tweets that falsely suggested <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR3-wrg3tTKK5-9tOHPGAHWFVO3DfslkJ0KsDEPQpWmPbKtp6EsoVV2Qs1Q">the CDC had updated</a> its records to show that only 6% of U.S. deaths tied to COVID-19 were legitimate. President Donald Trump was among those who tweeted the information, which was later taken down by Twitter for violating platform rules.

The posts, which received hundreds of thousands of shares online, were based on a regularly updated CDC data table showing underlying conditions for those who died of COVID-19. The conditions included high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, as well as problems that are caused by COVID-19 itself, such as respiratory failure and pneumonia.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#Comorbidities" target="_blank">CDC data table&nbsp;</a>is based on an analysis of death certificates that mention COVID-19 as a cause. For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned, the CDC notes.

The other 94% list COVID-19 and other conditions together. Among those deaths, there were, on average, 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death, the public health agency said.

As of Aug. 26, the CDC said, there were 161,332 deaths where COVID-19 was listed on the death certificate. Social media users over the weekend posted an older screenshot of the data that showed 153,504 deaths. The posts used the 6% figure to claim the U.S. death toll was much lower — 9,210.

“CDC just backpedaled (quietly) and adjusted the U.S. COVID deaths from 153,504 to 9,210. Admitting that their numbers are so (expletive) that they are off by a whopping 94%,” said a post being shared on Facebook Monday.

But such claims misrepresent the data. A death isn’t excluded from the COVID-19 tally just because the person was obese or had diabetes or dementia. Someone with heart problems can still be killed by COVID-19, and the death certificate could mention both as contributing.

Experts say it’s not surprising that so few people who died from COVID-19 had no underlying conditions listed on their death certificates. It is rare for people not to have multiple medical issues at death.

“The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person’s death,” Dr. Robert Anderson, who oversees the CDC’s death statistics work, said in a statement. “In 92% of all deaths that mention COVID-19, COVID-19 is listed as the underlying cause of death.”

Also, while death certificates are supposed to list any causes or conditions that contributed, past research has shown that the documents aren’t perfect. Doctors might not know – or specify – all the reasons behind a particular death.

More important, the CDC figures show what medical professionals have been saying since the outset of the pandemic — that the virus tends to have a more severe impact on people with underlying conditions.

For example, people died with diabetes not because of it, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

“If it hadn’t been for the COVID virus infection, these people would be living today,” he said. “So yes, although they have contributing underlying chronic health factors, it’s still the COVID virus that killed them.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598927207022.png" alt="Robert R. Redfield, MD, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during a weekend Zoom conference" />
 <figcaption>Robert R. Redfield, MD, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during a weekend Zoom conference</figcaption>
 </figure>By BEATRICE DUPUY, Associated PressThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not “backpedal” on the number of deaths caused by COVID-19, reducing the figure from nearly 154,000 to just over 9,000, as social media posts claimed.The term “Only 6%” trended widely on Twitter over the weekend as supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory promoted tweets that falsely suggested <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR3-wrg3tTKK5-9tOHPGAHWFVO3DfslkJ0KsDEPQpWmPbKtp6EsoVV2Qs1Q">the CDC had updated</a> its records to show that only 6% of U.S. deaths tied to COVID-19 were legitimate. President Donald Trump was among those who tweeted the information, which was later taken down by Twitter for violating platform rules.The posts, which received hundreds of thousands of shares online, were based on a regularly updated CDC data table showing underlying conditions for those who died of COVID-19. The conditions included high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, as well as problems that are caused by COVID-19 itself, such as respiratory failure and pneumonia.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#Comorbidities" target="_blank">CDC data table&nbsp;</a>is based on an analysis of death certificates that mention COVID-19 as a cause. For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned, the CDC notes.The other 94% list COVID-19 and other conditions together. Among those deaths, there were, on average, 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death, the public health agency said.As of Aug. 26, the CDC said, there were 161,332 deaths where COVID-19 was listed on the death certificate. Social media users over the weekend posted an older screenshot of the data that showed 153,504 deaths. The posts used the 6% figure to claim the U.S. death toll was much lower — 9,210.“CDC just backpedaled (quietly) and adjusted the U.S. COVID deaths from 153,504 to 9,210. Admitting that their numbers are so (expletive) that they are off by a whopping 94%,” said a post being shared on Facebook Monday.But such claims misrepresent the data. A death isn’t excluded from the COVID-19 tally just because the person was obese or had diabetes or dementia. Someone with heart problems can still be killed by COVID-19, and the death certificate could mention both as contributing.Experts say it’s not surprising that so few people who died from COVID-19 had no underlying conditions listed on their death certificates. It is rare for people not to have multiple medical issues at death.“The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person’s death,” Dr. Robert Anderson, who oversees the CDC’s death statistics work, said in a statement. “In 92% of all deaths that mention COVID-19, COVID-19 is listed as the underlying cause of death.”Also, while death certificates are supposed to list any causes or conditions that contributed, past research has shown that the documents aren’t perfect. Doctors might not know – or specify – all the reasons behind a particular death.More important, the CDC figures show what medical professionals have been saying since the outset of the pandemic — that the virus tends to have a more severe impact on people with underlying conditions.For example, people died with diabetes not because of it, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.“If it hadn’t been for the COVID virus infection, these people would be living today,” he said. “So yes, although they have contributing underlying chronic health factors, it’s still the COVID virus that killed them.”

CDC has not reduced the death count for COVID-19


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — As of the last report on the Reno County COVID-19 dashboard for the month of August Monday afternoon, there were 165 active cases of the virus in the county. 

742 people have tested positive since the beginning, 576 have recovered, one has died.

Of the 165 active cases, 115 are connected to Hutchinson Correctional Facility. Two are still active at Hutch CC. That leaves 48 non cluster related cases in the county.

The dashboard notes three hospitalizations and that 37 cases overall spent time in the hospital. 20 were admitted to ICU at one point, with 4 intubated.

6,799 total tests have been administered, with 6,057 negative. The overall positive test rate is at 10.91%, with the community positive test rate at 7.10%. 10.82% of the population has been tested.

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HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — As of the last report on the Reno County COVID-19 dashboard for the month of August Monday afternoon, there were 165 active cases of the virus in the county. 742 people have tested positive since the beginning, 576 have recovered, one has died.Of the 165 active cases, 115 are connected to Hutchinson Correctional Facility. Two are still active at Hutch CC. That leaves 48 non cluster related cases in the county.The dashboard notes three hospitalizations and that 37 cases overall spent time in the hospital. 20 were admitted to ICU at one point, with 4 intubated.6,799 total tests have been administered, with 6,057 negative. The overall positive test rate is at 10.91%, with the community positive test rate at 7.10%. 10.82% of the population has been tested.

End of August sees non-cluster cases below 50

WASHINGTON (AP) — Threatening fines and funding cut-offs, the Trump administration issued new COVID-19 requirements for nursing homes and hospitals, prompting immediate pushback from beleaguered industries.

To check the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it will require facilities to test staff regularly or face fines.

<a href="https://apnews.com/681479be1d9f1a0fea4d64b1a44d5b9e">The move comes months after the White House</a>&nbsp;first urged governors to test all nursing home residents and staff. With residents, nursing homes are being required to offer them coronavirus tests if there is an outbreak or if any show symptoms.

Officials also reinforced a reporting mandate for hospitals. It included a thinly veiled threat to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funds to facilities that fail to report certain COVID-19 data daily to the federal Health and Human Services department. Hospitals responded with a sharp rebuke, calling the move “heavy-handed” and raising the specter of loss of vital services for local communities in a pandemic, less than three months before Election Day.

Long-term care facilities represent less than 1% of the U.S. population, but they account for 42% of the COVID-19 deaths, with more than 70,000 fatalities reported by the COVID Tracking Project.

The plight of frail elders in nursing homes is politically sensitive for President Donald Trump, who is trying to maintain support from older voters amid disapproval of the government’s pandemic response. His administration is distributing fast-test machines to nursing homes, but there are continued reports that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ae2b6d71bdc3a9391ae02910d8f0491f">cases have been rising</a>&nbsp;and facilities still face&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ff2bbfb4a7431e86cdca5132042d4a0e">shortages of supplies</a>&nbsp;like masks.

“Our recommendations for testing in nursing homes go back as far back as March and April,” said Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. “What’s different about today is that this is now a requirement ... we want to make sure every single nursing home is complying.”

Independent research indicates that the coronavirus most likely gets into nursing homes via staffers who unwittingly bring it in from surrounding communities where it has started to spread. Staffers who have yet to develop symptoms may have no clue that they’re infected.

Verma said the testing requirement for staff will be keyed to the level of virus activity in local areas. If the positive rate is below 5%, nursing homes will have to test staff once a month. If the rate is 5% - 10%, testing will be required once a week. If the rate is above 10%, staff will have to be tested twice a week. Florida, Iowa and Nevada are examples of states where the COVID-19 positive rate is now above 10%.

The government will provide $2.5 billion to help nursing homes with testing costs, Verma also announced. The administration’s campaign to distribute fast-test machines and an initial supply of tests is supposed to be done by the end of September.

The nursing home industry said it supports mandatory testing as long as facilities are given what they need to comply with requirements.

Mark Parkinson, head of the industry group American Health Care Association, said nursing homes in many parts of the country still can’t get timely results on COVID-19 tests.

CMS “must factor in the delays that continue to be a reality,” Parkinson said in a statement. “Otherwise facilities could face fines for circumstances beyond their control and be conducting tests that are so delayed that they have little clinical value.”

The hospital reporting requirement that was also announced Tuesday follows confusion and misgivings surrounding a Trump administration directive that facilities send critical COVID-19 data directly to HHS instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as had been the case.

The information includes numbers of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, how many intensive-care beds are occupied, and the availability of essential supplies and equipment such as ventilators and masks and gowns.

The regulation basically says if hospitals want to continue to participate in Medicare and Medicaid, they must report the information as required. The American Hospital Association called for the requirement to be immediately rescinded.

“Hospitals and health systems consistently have put forward a good faith effort to report the data needed to battle COVID-19 under very trying circumstances, despite the ever-changing requests from the government on data reporting,” Rick Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association, said in a statement. “Since February, the government has made at least six changes to how they want hospitals to report data.”

Federal statistics show that 94% of hospitals are reporting the required data, said Pollack. He added his organization has done some investigation of its own and found that in some cases hospitals had sent in their reports, but the information had not gotten through the government system.

“It’s beyond perplexing why CMS would use a regulatory sledgehammer — threatening Medicare participation — to the very organizations that are on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.”

CMS chief Verma said the requirement is meant to correct deficiencies in reporting vital data needed to track and contain the pandemic.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Threatening fines and funding cut-offs, the Trump administration issued new COVID-19 requirements for nursing homes and hospitals, prompting immediate pushback from beleaguered industries.To check the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it will require facilities to test staff regularly or face fines.<a href="https://apnews.com/681479be1d9f1a0fea4d64b1a44d5b9e">The move comes months after the White House</a>&nbsp;first urged governors to test all nursing home residents and staff. With residents, nursing homes are being required to offer them coronavirus tests if there is an outbreak or if any show symptoms.Officials also reinforced a reporting mandate for hospitals. It included a thinly veiled threat to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funds to facilities that fail to report certain COVID-19 data daily to the federal Health and Human Services department. Hospitals responded with a sharp rebuke, calling the move “heavy-handed” and raising the specter of loss of vital services for local communities in a pandemic, less than three months before Election Day.Long-term care facilities represent less than 1% of the U.S. population, but they account for 42% of the COVID-19 deaths, with more than 70,000 fatalities reported by the COVID Tracking Project.The plight of frail elders in nursing homes is politically sensitive for President Donald Trump, who is trying to maintain support from older voters amid disapproval of the government’s pandemic response. His administration is distributing fast-test machines to nursing homes, but there are continued reports that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ae2b6d71bdc3a9391ae02910d8f0491f">cases have been rising</a>&nbsp;and facilities still face&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ff2bbfb4a7431e86cdca5132042d4a0e">shortages of supplies</a>&nbsp;like masks.“Our recommendations for testing in nursing homes go back as far back as March and April,” said Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. “What’s different about today is that this is now a requirement ... we want to make sure every single nursing home is complying.”Independent research indicates that the coronavirus most likely gets into nursing homes via staffers who unwittingly bring it in from surrounding communities where it has started to spread. Staffers who have yet to develop symptoms may have no clue that they’re infected.Verma said the testing requirement for staff will be keyed to the level of virus activity in local areas. If the positive rate is below 5%, nursing homes will have to test staff once a month. If the rate is 5% - 10%, testing will be required once a week. If the rate is above 10%, staff will have to be tested twice a week. Florida, Iowa and Nevada are examples of states where the COVID-19 positive rate is now above 10%.The government will provide $2.5 billion to help nursing homes with testing costs, Verma also announced. The administration’s campaign to distribute fast-test machines and an initial supply of tests is supposed to be done by the end of September.The nursing home industry said it supports mandatory testing as long as facilities are given what they need to comply with requirements.Mark Parkinson, head of the industry group American Health Care Association, said nursing homes in many parts of the country still can’t get timely results on COVID-19 tests.CMS “must factor in the delays that continue to be a reality,” Parkinson said in a statement. “Otherwise facilities could face fines for circumstances beyond their control and be conducting tests that are so delayed that they have little clinical value.”The hospital reporting requirement that was also announced Tuesday follows confusion and misgivings surrounding a Trump administration directive that facilities send critical COVID-19 data directly to HHS instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as had been the case.The information includes numbers of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, how many intensive-care beds are occupied, and the availability of essential supplies and equipment such as ventilators and masks and gowns.The regulation basically says if hospitals want to continue to participate in Medicare and Medicaid, they must report the information as required. The American Hospital Association called for the requirement to be immediately rescinded.“Hospitals and health systems consistently have put forward a good faith effort to report the data needed to battle COVID-19 under very trying circumstances, despite the ever-changing requests from the government on data reporting,” Rick Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association, said in a statement. “Since February, the government has made at least six changes to how they want hospitals to report data.”Federal statistics show that 94% of hospitals are reporting the required data, said Pollack. He added his organization has done some investigation of its own and found that in some cases hospitals had sent in their reports, but the information had not gotten through the government system.“It’s beyond perplexing why CMS would use a regulatory sledgehammer — threatening Medicare participation — to the very organizations that are on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.”CMS chief Verma said the requirement is meant to correct deficiencies in reporting vital data needed to track and contain the pandemic.

New COVID-19 mandates on health care facilities get pushback

Reno County Health Department in collaboration with the Reno County School Superintendents and the Hutchinson Clinic have worked together to adapt the School Gating Criteria for Reno County put forth by Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Kansas Department of Education to be utilized by local testing metrics.

Reno County school districts will be utilizing the school gating criteria guide with a 14-day positive test rate (PTR) metric based on the population of Reno County.

In order to get an accurate 14-day positive testing rate for Reno County, we need to test 3.6% of the population every month. An accurate positive testing rate will tell us what is going on in our community with both symptomatic (those who are COVID-19 positive and have symptoms) and asymptomatic (those who are COVID-19 positive but do not have any symptoms) patients. Asymptomatic patients pose a threat to the vulnerable populations in our community, as the virus can be spread without ever identifying the carrier.

We know we have community spread within Reno County. What we need to know is how far out the spread is in order to maintain our goal to keep our schools and community safely open. Community wide testing will help us have a much clearer picture.

Currently, the Hutchinson Clinic, Prairie Star Health Center and Hutchinson Regional Medical Center are testing patients for COVID-19 in our community. The Reno County Health Department is working on grant funding that will be utilized for communitywide testing that will be open to the public. Planning for communitywide testing has been on the radar from Public Health Emergency Preparedness staff and preliminary plans are already set in motion.

Please continue to be vigilant by washing your hands, social distance by at least six feet or more, wear a mask when you are in public places and stay at home if you are not feeling well. It is very important that people continue to follow the guidelines to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595202434504.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Release from Reno County Health DepartmentReno County Health Department in collaboration with the Reno County School Superintendents and the Hutchinson Clinic have worked together to adapt the School Gating Criteria for Reno County put forth by Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Kansas Department of Education to be utilized by local testing metrics.Reno County school districts will be utilizing the school gating criteria guide with a 14-day positive test rate (PTR) metric based on the population of Reno County.In order to get an accurate 14-day positive testing rate for Reno County, we need to test 3.6% of the population every month. An accurate positive testing rate will tell us what is going on in our community with both symptomatic (those who are COVID-19 positive and have symptoms) and asymptomatic (those who are COVID-19 positive but do not have any symptoms) patients. Asymptomatic patients pose a threat to the vulnerable populations in our community, as the virus can be spread without ever identifying the carrier.We know we have community spread within Reno County. What we need to know is how far out the spread is in order to maintain our goal to keep our schools and community safely open. Community wide testing will help us have a much clearer picture.Currently, the Hutchinson Clinic, Prairie Star Health Center and Hutchinson Regional Medical Center are testing patients for COVID-19 in our community. The Reno County Health Department is working on grant funding that will be utilized for communitywide testing that will be open to the public. Planning for communitywide testing has been on the radar from Public Health Emergency Preparedness staff and preliminary plans are already set in motion.Please continue to be vigilant by washing your hands, social distance by at least six feet or more, wear a mask when you are in public places and stay at home if you are not feeling well. It is very important that people continue to follow the guidelines to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

Reno County Health Department issues release on gating criteria plan

LONDON&nbsp; (AP)— The World Health Organization says countries should actively test people to find coronavirus cases, even if they have mild or no symptoms.

That’s despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently switched guidance to say asymptomatic contacts of cases don’t need to be tested.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for the coronavirus, says when officials are investigating clusters of COVID-19, “testing may need to be expanded to look for individuals who are on the more mild end of the spectrum or who may indeed be asymptomatic.”

Van Kerkhove says countries were free to adapt their testing guidance for their individual needs and its critical how fast countries get results.

“What’s really important is that testing is used as an opportunity, to define active cases so that they can be isolated and so that contact tracing can also take place,” Van Kerkhove said. “This is really fundamental to breaking chains of transmission.”

Earlier in the pandemic, WHO recommend that countries focus on “testing, testing, testing.”

Van Kerkhove also says wearing masks alone to protect against the spread of the coronavirus isn’t enough, expressing concerns that people are growing too lax on maintaining physical distancing.

“So it’s not just masks alone. It’s not just physical distancing alone,” Van Kerkhove said. “It’s not just hand cleaning alone. Do it all.”

LONDON&nbsp; (AP)— The World Health Organization says countries should actively test people to find coronavirus cases, even if they have mild or no symptoms.That’s despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently switched guidance to say asymptomatic contacts of cases don’t need to be tested.Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for the coronavirus, says when officials are investigating clusters of COVID-19, “testing may need to be expanded to look for individuals who are on the more mild end of the spectrum or who may indeed be asymptomatic.”Van Kerkhove says countries were free to adapt their testing guidance for their individual needs and its critical how fast countries get results.“What’s really important is that testing is used as an opportunity, to define active cases so that they can be isolated and so that contact tracing can also take place,” Van Kerkhove said. “This is really fundamental to breaking chains of transmission.”Earlier in the pandemic, WHO recommend that countries focus on “testing, testing, testing.”Van Kerkhove also says wearing masks alone to protect against the spread of the coronavirus isn’t enough, expressing concerns that people are growing too lax on maintaining physical distancing.“So it’s not just masks alone. It’s not just physical distancing alone,” Van Kerkhove said. “It’s not just hand cleaning alone. Do it all.”

WHO says test for virus, despite CDC's recent flip flop

The Reno County Health Department has updated the Reno County COVID-19 Dashboard to reflect additional clusters identified within Reno County. 

The most recent cluster identified is at Hutchinson Community College with seven laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive cases; six of which reside within Reno County. HutchCC is closely working with local medical providers and the Reno County Health Department to identify the cases and their close contacts through contact tracing to continue to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Currently in Reno County there are a total of eight clusters; six of which are considered active. The definition of a COVID-19 outbreak, also known as a cluster, is two or more associated cases outside of the household. 

An outbreak will not be closed until two consecutive cycles of incubation periods are completed without a new case or equal to twenty-eight days.

Please continue to be vigilant by washing your hands, social distance by at least six feet or more, wear a mask when you are in public places and stay at home if you are not feeling well. 

It is very important that people continue to follow the guidelines to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595202434504.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The Reno County Health Department has updated the Reno County COVID-19 Dashboard to reflect additional clusters identified within Reno County. The most recent cluster identified is at Hutchinson Community College with seven laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive cases; six of which reside within Reno County. HutchCC is closely working with local medical providers and the Reno County Health Department to identify the cases and their close contacts through contact tracing to continue to reduce the spread of COVID-19.Currently in Reno County there are a total of eight clusters; six of which are considered active. The definition of a COVID-19 outbreak, also known as a cluster, is two or more associated cases outside of the household. An outbreak will not be closed until two consecutive cycles of incubation periods are completed without a new case or equal to twenty-eight days.Please continue to be vigilant by washing your hands, social distance by at least six feet or more, wear a mask when you are in public places and stay at home if you are not feeling well. It is very important that people continue to follow the guidelines to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

Reno County now up to eight clusters considered active, including at HutchCC

TOPEKA —Gov. Laura Kelly announced a new program Thursday to help essential workers sickened with coronavirus cover the cost of medical care. The program, which will be paid for with $8 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, will provide workers in fields such as child care, education and food service up to $25,000 for medical expenses if they are uninsured and $15,000 if they are insured and need help with copays and deductibles.

Before, they were out of luck, trial attorneys and some legislators say. They say the issue is that Kansas law is written so that coronavirus is almost certainly not an occupational disease, which means if you get it on the job, you can’t get benefits through that system. But, because the law says the workers’ compensation system is the exclusive remedy for on-the-job injuries and occupational diseases, you can’t sue your employer, either.

“The dedication and selflessness displayed by Kansas essential workers has been critical to our recovery efforts across the state in cities big and small and rural communities,” Kelly said in a news release. 

“They risk their health each and every day to help others and these funds make it possible for the state of Kansas to help cover expenses in the unfortunate cases when they contract COVID-19.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584111668151.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA —Gov. Laura Kelly announced a new program Thursday to help essential workers sickened with coronavirus cover the cost of medical care. The program, which will be paid for with $8 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, will provide workers in fields such as child care, education and food service up to $25,000 for medical expenses if they are uninsured and $15,000 if they are insured and need help with copays and deductibles.Before, they were out of luck, trial attorneys and some legislators say. They say the issue is that Kansas law is written so that coronavirus is almost certainly not an occupational disease, which means if you get it on the job, you can’t get benefits through that system. But, because the law says the workers’ compensation system is the exclusive remedy for on-the-job injuries and occupational diseases, you can’t sue your employer, either.“The dedication and selflessness displayed by Kansas essential workers has been critical to our recovery efforts across the state in cities big and small and rural communities,” Kelly said in a news release. “They risk their health each and every day to help others and these funds make it possible for the state of Kansas to help cover expenses in the unfortunate cases when they contract COVID-19.”

Kansas creates COVID-19 essential worker health care fund


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;Haven USD 312 is starting school in person and USD 312 Superintendent Clark Wedel believes there may have been an impact on enrollment because of that choice.

"We were concerned that we could be down 10 to 15%," Wedel said. "Currently, with what we believe our numbers are, it's less than 10%, somewhere in the range of 8 to 9%. Certainly, we've got a drop currently and we never really know. Sometimes they don't enroll and we still see them prior to count day on September 20."

The intent is that as long as infections don't spike, in person instruction will continue.

"The majority were anxious for the kids to get back in school," Wedel said. "We have some concerns on the other side, as well. Concerns for safety and just some apprehension about coming back."

The district wants to make clear that illness will be taken seriously if it occurs.

"We know that this could mean more absences, whether its kids or faculty," Wedel said. "Obviously, if a kid comes in with a temperature or a staff member comes in with a temperature, I think our level is 100.4, they would be sent back home at that point."

Also, those riding buses in the district will be temperature checked and must wear a mask to ride.

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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;Haven USD 312 is starting school in person and USD 312 Superintendent Clark Wedel believes there may have been an impact on enrollment because of that choice."We were concerned that we could be down 10 to 15%," Wedel said. "Currently, with what we believe our numbers are, it's less than 10%, somewhere in the range of 8 to 9%. Certainly, we've got a drop currently and we never really know. Sometimes they don't enroll and we still see them prior to count day on September 20."The intent is that as long as infections don't spike, in person instruction will continue."The majority were anxious for the kids to get back in school," Wedel said. "We have some concerns on the other side, as well. Concerns for safety and just some apprehension about coming back."The district wants to make clear that illness will be taken seriously if it occurs."We know that this could mean more absences, whether its kids or faculty," Wedel said. "Obviously, if a kid comes in with a temperature or a staff member comes in with a temperature, I think our level is 100.4, they would be sent back home at that point."Also, those riding buses in the district will be temperature checked and must wear a mask to ride.

Wedel: Enrollment may have been impacted by Haven's in person choice

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials sparked criticism and confusion after posting guidelines on coronavirus testing from the White House task force that run counter to what scientists say is necessary to control the pandemic.

The new guidance says it’s not necessary for people who have been in close contact with infected people, but don’t feel sick, to get tested. It was posted earlier this week on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC previously had advised local health departments to test people who have been within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes.

Across the country, public health experts called the change bizarre. They noted that testing contacts of infected people is a core element of public health efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of infected people — the CDC has said as many as 40% — exhibit no symptoms.

“The recommendation not to test asymptomatic people who likely have been exposed is not in accord with the science,” said John Auerbach, president of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit that works to improve U.S. preparedness against disease.

“We are seeking clarification from CDC about its recent guidance around testing,” said a spokesman for Michigan’s health department.

Federal officials said the new recommendation was issued by consensus of the White House virus task force.

However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert and perhaps the best known task force member, said Wednesday he wasn’t part of the discussion that green-lighted the change.

Fauci told CNN he was undergoing surgery when the new guidance was discussed last week, adding he was “worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact it is.”

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials sparked criticism and confusion after posting guidelines on coronavirus testing from the White House task force that run counter to what scientists say is necessary to control the pandemic.The new guidance says it’s not necessary for people who have been in close contact with infected people, but don’t feel sick, to get tested. It was posted earlier this week on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The CDC previously had advised local health departments to test people who have been within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes.Across the country, public health experts called the change bizarre. They noted that testing contacts of infected people is a core element of public health efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of infected people — the CDC has said as many as 40% — exhibit no symptoms.“The recommendation not to test asymptomatic people who likely have been exposed is not in accord with the science,” said John Auerbach, president of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit that works to improve U.S. preparedness against disease.“We are seeking clarification from CDC about its recent guidance around testing,” said a spokesman for Michigan’s health department.Federal officials said the new recommendation was issued by consensus of the White House virus task force.However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert and perhaps the best known task force member, said Wednesday he wasn’t part of the discussion that green-lighted the change.Fauci told CNN he was undergoing surgery when the new guidance was discussed last week, adding he was “worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact it is.”The American Medical Association, in a statement, called the change “a recipe for community spread.” The Association of American Medical Colleges called it “a step backward in fighting the pandemic.”Some officials — including some state governors — said it was another sign of a dysfunctional federal response to the pandemic.“This is like a public health version of Vietnam,” said Brian Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, which works to strengthen the public health system.CDC officials referred all media questions to the agency’s parent organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. That suggests that HHS ordered the change, not CDC, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher.After Twitter lit up with head-scratching and alarm about the change, HHS officials sent an email Wednesday saying the guidance was revised “to reflect current evidence and the best public health interventions,” but did not detail what the new evidence was.The decision came out of meetings of the White House coronavirus task force, HHS officials said.In a call with reporters, Dr. Brett Giroir, the HHS assistant secretary for health, said guidance language originated at the CDC. But he also said many federal leaders outside the agency were involved in “lots of editing, lots of input.” He said federal officials achieved consensus but it was difficult to attribute the final language to any one source.Ultimately, restricting testing could be self-defeating, because it could skew the numbers and create a perception that rates of infection are higher. Testing people who appear to be healthy would tend to lower the overall rate of positive results, while narrowing testing to people who are sick would raise the overall positive rate, Auerbach said.Why HHS would order such a change quickly became a matter of speculation. Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious diseases specialist at Emory University, suggested in a tweet that there are two possible explanations.One is that it may be driven by testing supply issues that in many parts of the country have caused widely reported delays in results of a week or more, he suggested.HHS officials suggested that wasn’t the reason, arguing that testing capacity is plentiful.But Dr. Mysheika Roberts, health commissioner for Columbus, Ohio, said the city had to curtail testing last month because of a shortage of reagents used in lab procedures.“When we were testing asymptomatic people here in Columbus, we were picking up a large number of individuals” with the virus, she saidAnother possible explanation for the change is that President Donald Trump simply wants to see case counts drop, and discouraging more people from getting tested is one way to do it, del Rio said in his tweet.Full Coverage:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/tag/VirusOutbreak">Virus Outbreak</a>Giroir said the change was made without input from Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. “There was no weight on the scales by the president or the vice president” or HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Giroir said.Dr. Tom Frieden, who was head of the CDC during the Obama administration, said the move follows another recent change: to no longer recommend quarantine for travelers coming from areas where infections are more common.“Both changes are highly problematic” and need to be better explained, said Frieden, who now is president of Resolve to Save Lives, a nonprofit program that works to prevent epidemics.Frieden said he, too, believes HHS forced CDC to post the changes. He called it “a sad day” because “CDC is being told what to write on their website.”The governors of California, New York, Washington and Kentucky — all Democrats — criticized the new recommendations.Washington Gov Jay Inslee said on Twitter that the changes likely will cause thousands of infections in his state to go unrecognized, and allow the virus to spread even more. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called the new guidance “reckless.”California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said their states will not follow the new guidance.“We will not be influenced by that change,” Newsom said. “We’re influenced by the folks that are experts in the field who feel very differently.”“Why would you reverse yourself on the quarantine order?” Cuomo told reporters on a conference call. “Because they don’t want publicity that there is a COVID problem. Because the president’s politics are, ‘COVID isn’t a problem We’re past COVID.’”___

Coronavirus Update