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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
President Trump used the Defense Production Act to ensure that meatpacking plants in southwest Kansas remain open."People respect how important these plants are in southwest Kansas," said Kansas First District Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall. "They produce over 20% of the beef for the entire country, so they're vitally important to the food chain."Marshall asked for and got help in getting the workers at those plants tested for COVID-19."Ten days ago, when the doctors down here in southwest Kansas reached out to me and said, hey, the tests are not back yet, but we're really concerned, I was able to call the Secretary of Agriculture's office who called the White House and basically mobilized an entire force to come down here, with DHS and CDC and literally thousands of tests," Marshall said.The key to keeping the food supply going is those workers knowing their status."We got the quick test, enough of the cartridges to do the quick test on those folks," Marshall said. "If they test negative, then they can get back to work much more quickly. It allows us to move people through that process much sooner, but no, we're not making sick people go to work."Given the number of people infected, the mildness of the infections thus far has been a surprise."Between the three hospitals down here, we probably have two or three patients that have been admitted," Marshall said. "Only one in the ICU that I'm aware of. I'm very surprised so far. I've been reaching back out to KU Med Center and some of my classmates there as well. What we don't know, is this the quiet before the storm? Typically it takes about 7-14 days from the time the person gets the virus until they get really sick."Some of the new cases aren't that far into the disease process, so the overall severity still remains to be seen.

Marshall: Testing in SW Kansas surprising thus far, but too early to tell