SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City summer camp has been shut down after eight COVID-19 cases were reported, and hospitals were raising alarms about a rise in infected patients.
The camp, which was put on by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District, was held at Clear Creek Elementary School in Shawnee. The county health department said masks were only recommended, not required, and many children didn’t wear them.
The health department is working with the camp to isolate or quarantine those who are affected, director Sanmi Areola said Monday.
Kansas confirmed nearly 4,000 new cases last week and daily inpatient numbers have climbed back to nearly 400. The state hasn’t seen figures like that since February, KCUR reports.
“It is scary,” said deputy state health officer Joan Duwve.
In the Wichita area, Ascension Via Christi’s St. Francis Hospital in Wichita went from 13 patients to 20 to 46 on the past three Mondays.
Dr. Sam Antonios, Via Christi’s chief clinical officer, described the health system’s staff as “disheartened.”
At the University Kansas Hospital, 56 are hospitalized with COVID-19, nine of them on ventilators, said Dr. Nathan Bahr, an infectious disease specialist, during a Monday briefing.
“Lots of sick people,” he lamented.