<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1601415298643.png" alt="As of 4 p.m. Sept. 29, 2020, Barton County has reported 15 new cases of COVID-19." />
 <figcaption>As of 4 p.m. Sept. 29, 2020, Barton County has reported 15 new cases of COVID-19.</figcaption>
 </figure>

Barton County coronavirus update: 139 active cases

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 2037 to a total of 58,629 the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;

Coronavirus deaths were reported at 637, an increase of 5.

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 2037 to a total of 58,629 the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;Coronavirus deaths were reported at 637, an increase of 5.<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1601313079636.png" alt="Monday Sept. 28, 2020 KDHE image&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Monday Sept. 28, 2020 KDHE image&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>

KDHE: Latest coronavirus numbers in Kansas

NEW YORK (AP) — At a University of Maryland lab, people infected with the new coronavirus take turns sitting in a chair and putting their faces into the big end of a large cone. They recite the alphabet and sing or just sit quietly for a half hour. Sometimes they cough.

The cone sucks up everything that comes out of their mouths and noses. It’s part of a device called “Gesundheit II” that is helping scientists study a big question: Just how does the virus that causes COVID-19 spread from one person to another?

It clearly hitchhikes on small liquid particles sprayed out by an infected person. People expel particles while coughing, sneezing, singing, shouting, talking and even breathing. But the drops come in a wide range of sizes, and scientists are trying to pin down how risky the various kinds are.

The answer affects what we should all be doing to avoid getting sick. That’s why it was thrust into headlines a few days ago when a U.S. health agency appeared to have shifted its position on the issue, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-archive-public-health-cfb43dd5a28dd449cd1100a067cfd112">later said</a>&nbsp;it had published new language in error.

The recommendation to stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart — some authorities cite about half that distance — is based on the idea that larger particles fall to the ground before they can travel very far. They are like the droplets in a spritz of a window cleaner, and they can infect somebody by landing on their nose, mouth or eyes, or maybe being inhaled.

But some scientists are now focusing on tinier particles, the ones that spread more like cigarette smoke. Those are carried by wisps of air and even upward drafts caused by the warmth of our bodies. They can linger in the air for minutes to hours, spreading throughout a room and build up if ventilation is poor.

The potential risk comes from inhaling them. Measles can spread this way, but the new coronavirus is far less contagious than that.

For these particles, called aerosols, “6 feet is not a magic distance,” says Linsey Marr, a leading researcher who is studying them at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. But she says it’s still important to keep one’s distance from others, “the farther the better,” because aerosols are most concentrated near a source and pose a bigger risk at close range.

Public health agencies have generally focused on the larger particles for coronavirus. That prompted more than 200 other scientists to publish a&nbsp;<a href="https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa939/5867798" target="_blank">plea</a>&nbsp;in July to pay attention to the potential risk from aerosols. The World Health Organization, which had long dismissed a danger from aerosols except in the case of certain medical procedures, later&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-how-is-covid-19-transmitted" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;that aerosol transmission of the coronavirus can’t be ruled out in cases of infection within crowded and poorly ventilated indoor spaces.

The issue drew attention recently when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted and then deleted statements on its website that highlighted the idea of aerosol spread. The agency said the posting was an error, and that the statements were just a draft of proposed changes to its recommendations.

Dr. Jay Butler, CDC’s deputy director for infectious disease, told The Associated Press that the agency continues to believe larger and heavier droplets that come from coughing or sneezing are the primary means of transmission.

Last month Butler told a scientific meeting that current research suggests aerosol spreading of the coronavirus is possible but it doesn’t seem to be the main way that people get infected. Further research may change that conclusion, he added, and he urged scientists to study how often aerosol spread of the coronavirus occurs, what situations make it more likely and what reasonable steps might prevent it.

Marr said she thinks infection by aerosols is “happening a lot more than people initially were willing to think.”

As a key piece of evidence, Marr and others point to so-called “superspreader” events where one infected person evidently passed the virus to many others in a single setting.

In March, for example, after a choir member with coronavirus symptoms attended a rehearsal in Washington state, 52 others who had been seated throughout the room were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.15.20132027v2" target="_blank">found</a>&nbsp;to be infected and two died. In a crowded and poorly ventilated restaurant in China in January, the virus evidently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.16.20067728v1" target="_blank">spread&nbsp;</a>from a lunchtime patron to five people at two adjoining tables in a pattern suggesting aerosols were spread by the air conditioner. Also in January, a passenger on a Chinese bus apparently&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2770172" target="_blank">infected</a>&nbsp;23 others, many of whom were scattered around the vehicle.

Butler said such events raise concern about aerosol spread but don’t prove it happens.

There could be another way for tiny particles to spread. They may not necessarily come directly from somebody’s mouth or nose, says William Ristenpart of the University of California, Davis. His&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17888-w" target="_blank">research&nbsp;</a>found that if paper tissues are seeded with influenza virus and then crumpled, they give off particles that bear the virus. So people emptying a wastebasket with tissues discarded by somebody with COVID-19 should be sure to wear a mask, he said.

Scientists who warn about aerosols say current recommendations still make sense.

Wearing a mask is still important, and make sure it fits snugly. Keep washing those hands diligently. And again, staying farther apart is better than being closer together. Avoid crowds, especially indoors.

Their main addition to recommendations is ventilation to avoid a buildup of aerosol concentration. So, the researchers say, stay out of poorly ventilated rooms. Open windows and doors. One can also use air-purifying devices or virus-inactivating ultraviolet light.

Best of all: Just do as much as you can outdoors, where dilution and the sun’s ultraviolet light work in your favor.

“We know outdoors is the most spectacularly effective measure, by far,” says Jose-Luis Jimenez of the University of Colorado-Boulder. “Outdoors it is not impossible to get infected, but it is difficult.”

The various precautions should be used in combination rather than just one at a time, researchers say. In a well ventilated environment, “6 feet (of separation) is pretty good if everybody’s got a mask on” and nobody stays directly downwind of an infected person for very long, says Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, whose lab houses the Gesundheit II machine.

Duration of exposure is important, so there’s probably not much risk from a short elevator ride while masked or being passed by a jogger on the sidewalk, experts say.

Scientists have&nbsp;<a href="https://nicholas.duke.edu/news/online-tool-calculates-risk-classroom-transmission-airborne-covid-19" target="_blank">published</a>&nbsp;online&nbsp;<a href="https://cires.colorado.edu/news/covid-19-airborne-transmission-tool-available" target="_blank">tools</a>&nbsp;for calculating risk of airborne spread in various settings.

At a recent meeting on aerosols, however, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, noted that preventive steps can be a challenge in the real world. Keeping apart from other people can be difficult in homes that house multiple generations. Some old buildings have windows that were “nailed shut years ago,” he said. And “we have far too many communities where they simply don’t have access to clean water to wash their hands.”

It might seem strange that for all the scientific frenzy to study the new coronavirus, the details of how it spreads can still be in doubt nine months later. But history suggests patience.

“We’ve been studying influenza for 102 years,” says Milton, referring to the 1918 flu epidemic. “We still don’t know how it’s transmitted and what the role of aerosols is.”

NEW YORK (AP) — At a University of Maryland lab, people infected with the new coronavirus take turns sitting in a chair and putting their faces into the big end of a large cone. They recite the alphabet and sing or just sit quietly for a half hour. Sometimes they cough.The cone sucks up everything that comes out of their mouths and noses. It’s part of a device called “Gesundheit II” that is helping scientists study a big question: Just how does the virus that causes COVID-19 spread from one person to another?It clearly hitchhikes on small liquid particles sprayed out by an infected person. People expel particles while coughing, sneezing, singing, shouting, talking and even breathing. But the drops come in a wide range of sizes, and scientists are trying to pin down how risky the various kinds are.The answer affects what we should all be doing to avoid getting sick. That’s why it was thrust into headlines a few days ago when a U.S. health agency appeared to have shifted its position on the issue, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-archive-public-health-cfb43dd5a28dd449cd1100a067cfd112">later said</a>&nbsp;it had published new language in error.The recommendation to stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart — some authorities cite about half that distance — is based on the idea that larger particles fall to the ground before they can travel very far. They are like the droplets in a spritz of a window cleaner, and they can infect somebody by landing on their nose, mouth or eyes, or maybe being inhaled.But some scientists are now focusing on tinier particles, the ones that spread more like cigarette smoke. Those are carried by wisps of air and even upward drafts caused by the warmth of our bodies. They can linger in the air for minutes to hours, spreading throughout a room and build up if ventilation is poor.The potential risk comes from inhaling them. Measles can spread this way, but the new coronavirus is far less contagious than that.For these particles, called aerosols, “6 feet is not a magic distance,” says Linsey Marr, a leading researcher who is studying them at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. But she says it’s still important to keep one’s distance from others, “the farther the better,” because aerosols are most concentrated near a source and pose a bigger risk at close range.Public health agencies have generally focused on the larger particles for coronavirus. That prompted more than 200 other scientists to publish a&nbsp;<a href="https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa939/5867798" target="_blank">plea</a>&nbsp;in July to pay attention to the potential risk from aerosols. The World Health Organization, which had long dismissed a danger from aerosols except in the case of certain medical procedures, later&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-how-is-covid-19-transmitted" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;that aerosol transmission of the coronavirus can’t be ruled out in cases of infection within crowded and poorly ventilated indoor spaces.The issue drew attention recently when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted and then deleted statements on its website that highlighted the idea of aerosol spread. The agency said the posting was an error, and that the statements were just a draft of proposed changes to its recommendations.Dr. Jay Butler, CDC’s deputy director for infectious disease, told The Associated Press that the agency continues to believe larger and heavier droplets that come from coughing or sneezing are the primary means of transmission.Last month Butler told a scientific meeting that current research suggests aerosol spreading of the coronavirus is possible but it doesn’t seem to be the main way that people get infected. Further research may change that conclusion, he added, and he urged scientists to study how often aerosol spread of the coronavirus occurs, what situations make it more likely and what reasonable steps might prevent it.Marr said she thinks infection by aerosols is “happening a lot more than people initially were willing to think.”As a key piece of evidence, Marr and others point to so-called “superspreader” events where one infected person evidently passed the virus to many others in a single setting.In March, for example, after a choir member with coronavirus symptoms attended a rehearsal in Washington state, 52 others who had been seated throughout the room were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.15.20132027v2" target="_blank">found</a>&nbsp;to be infected and two died. In a crowded and poorly ventilated restaurant in China in January, the virus evidently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.16.20067728v1" target="_blank">spread&nbsp;</a>from a lunchtime patron to five people at two adjoining tables in a pattern suggesting aerosols were spread by the air conditioner. Also in January, a passenger on a Chinese bus apparently&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2770172" target="_blank">infected</a>&nbsp;23 others, many of whom were scattered around the vehicle.Butler said such events raise concern about aerosol spread but don’t prove it happens.There could be another way for tiny particles to spread. They may not necessarily come directly from somebody’s mouth or nose, says William Ristenpart of the University of California, Davis. His&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17888-w" target="_blank">research&nbsp;</a>found that if paper tissues are seeded with influenza virus and then crumpled, they give off particles that bear the virus. So people emptying a wastebasket with tissues discarded by somebody with COVID-19 should be sure to wear a mask, he said.Scientists who warn about aerosols say current recommendations still make sense.Wearing a mask is still important, and make sure it fits snugly. Keep washing those hands diligently. And again, staying farther apart is better than being closer together. Avoid crowds, especially indoors.Their main addition to recommendations is ventilation to avoid a buildup of aerosol concentration. So, the researchers say, stay out of poorly ventilated rooms. Open windows and doors. One can also use air-purifying devices or virus-inactivating ultraviolet light.Best of all: Just do as much as you can outdoors, where dilution and the sun’s ultraviolet light work in your favor.“We know outdoors is the most spectacularly effective measure, by far,” says Jose-Luis Jimenez of the University of Colorado-Boulder. “Outdoors it is not impossible to get infected, but it is difficult.”The various precautions should be used in combination rather than just one at a time, researchers say. In a well ventilated environment, “6 feet (of separation) is pretty good if everybody’s got a mask on” and nobody stays directly downwind of an infected person for very long, says Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, whose lab houses the Gesundheit II machine.Duration of exposure is important, so there’s probably not much risk from a short elevator ride while masked or being passed by a jogger on the sidewalk, experts say.Scientists have&nbsp;<a href="https://nicholas.duke.edu/news/online-tool-calculates-risk-classroom-transmission-airborne-covid-19" target="_blank">published</a>&nbsp;online&nbsp;<a href="https://cires.colorado.edu/news/covid-19-airborne-transmission-tool-available" target="_blank">tools</a>&nbsp;for calculating risk of airborne spread in various settings.At a recent meeting on aerosols, however, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, noted that preventive steps can be a challenge in the real world. Keeping apart from other people can be difficult in homes that house multiple generations. Some old buildings have windows that were “nailed shut years ago,” he said. And “we have far too many communities where they simply don’t have access to clean water to wash their hands.”It might seem strange that for all the scientific frenzy to study the new coronavirus, the details of how it spreads can still be in doubt nine months later. But history suggests patience.“We’ve been studying influenza for 102 years,” says Milton, referring to the 1918 flu epidemic. “We still don’t know how it’s transmitted and what the role of aerosols is.”___

Tiny airborne particles may pose a big coronavirus problem

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — It began with devastation in the New York City area, followed by a summertime crisis in the Sun Belt. Now the coronavirus outbreak is heating up fast in smaller cities in the heartland, often in conservative corners of America where anti-mask sentiment runs high.

Elsewhere around the country, Florida’s Republican governor lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses Friday and all but set aside local mask ordinances in the political battleground state, in a move attacked by Democrats as hasty.

Meanwhile, confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. hit another milestone — 7 million — according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real number of infections is believed to be much higher.

The spike across the Midwest as well as parts of the West has set off alarms at hospitals, schools and colleges.

Wisconsin is averaging more than 2,000 new cases a day over the last week, compared with 675 three weeks earlier. Hospitalizations in the state are at their highest level since the outbreak took hold in the U.S. in March.

Utah has seen its average daily case count more than double from three weeks earlier. Oklahoma and Missouri are regularly recording 1,000 new cases a day, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch opponent of mask rules, tested positive this week. Kansas and Iowa are also witnessing a spike in cases. And South Dakota and Idaho are seeing sky-high rates of tests coming back positive.

“What we’re seeing is the newer hot spots rise over the course of the last several weeks, predominantly in the Upper Midwest,” said Thomas Tsai, a professor at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health.

The U.S. is averaging more than 40,000 new confirmed cases a day. While that number is dramatically lower than the peak of nearly 70,000 over the summer, the numbers are worrisome nonetheless. The nation’s death toll eclipsed 200,000 this week, the highest in the world.

In the Midwest, the virus is now landing squarely in places where there is strong resistance to masks and governors have been reluctant to require face coverings.

In Springfield, Missouri, hospitals are starting to fill up with COVID-19 patients and the city has seen a big spike in deaths over the past month.

Amelia Montgomery, a nurse working in the COVID unit at Cox South Hospital in Springfield, describes a maddening routine where family members of sick patients call up medical staff on the phone on a daily basis and question whether their loved ones truly have the virus and and the veracity of positive test results.

“We know what COVID looks like now after six months of dealing with it,” Montgomery said. “It is like beating your head against a brick wall when you are constantly having patients, family members of these patients and the community argue so intensely that it is not real or we are treating it in the wrong way.”

The skepticism about the virus coincides with deep frustration over mask requirements in the Midwestern cities that actually have them.

Mike Cooper, a 59-year-old and sign shop owner from the Branson, Missouri, area, is among those who have grown weary of virus restrictions that he sees as out-of-control government overreach. He has no doubts about the seriousness of the virus, but says the financial toll of business and school shutdowns creates its own set of health problems, such as alcoholism, suicide and depression. “Financial ruin kills people too,” he said.

“To me, flatten the curve means extend the plague. Flatten the curve means you are just going to kill the same number of people over a longer period of time, so they are going to extend the plague,” Cooper said.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a major ally of President Donald Trump, gave businesses the OK to reopen, declaring, “We’re not closing anything going forward.”

The governor, who has resisted making mask-wearing mandatory statewide, also said he will stop cities and counties from collecting fines from people who don’t cover their faces, virtually nullifying local mask ordinances.

Florida was a major hot spot over the summer, and the death toll there stands at nearly 14,000. Deaths are running at over 100 a day, and newly confirmed infections at about 2,700 a day.

Like Trump, DeSantis has questioned the effectiveness of closing down businesses, arguing that states that more aggressively shut down, including California, have fared no better.

“The state of Florida is probably the most open big state in the country,” he boasted Friday.

Florida Democrats have bemoaned the governor’s push to reopen.

“No one is advocating for a full-scale lockdown in Florida. But we have been and continue to ask for common-sense prevention measures such as face masks, which are essential to preventing further spread,” state Sen. Audrey Gibson said Thursday.

— Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced he and his wife have tested positive, though he said he has no symptoms. Northam, a Democrat who is also a doctor and usually wears a mask in public, has been criticized by Republicans who say his restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus are too stringent.

— Two former administrators of a Massachusetts veterans home where nearly 80 people died were charged with neglect over their handling of the outbreak. They could go to prison if convicted. It is believed to be the nation’s first criminal case brought against nursing home officials for actions during the crisis.

— In New York City, which beat back the virus after a disastrous spring, four Orthodox Jewish schools were closed for violating social-distancing rules. Health officials said if virus cases in these neighborhoods continue to build, the city might roll back the reopening in some places and require businesses to close back down.

Mask and social distancing rules are starting to cause fatigue in some areas of the Midwest and West.

In Joplin, Missouri, a mask ordinance was allowed to expire in mid-August as virus fatigue grew. Since then, the number of positive cases there and in surrounding Jasper County — a deeply conservative county that Trump won by more than 50 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016 — has risen about 80%.

“I am getting sick and tired of telling people to wear their masks, and I know they are sick and tired of me saying it,” said Tony Moehr, chief of the Jasper County Health Department. “And it just seems like people have heard it so many times, I’m not sure if they really even hear it anymore when we say it.”

At the home of the University of Oklahoma, the Norman City Council voted 5-3 this week to require that masks be worn indoors at house parties if more than 25 people are present. The ordinance passed over objections from members of the public.

“You can make any law that you want to. You come into my house telling me that I got to wear this stupid thing and you’re going to have a firefight on your hands,” said Josh Danforth, holding a mask, who identified himself as an Iraq war veteran.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599689971178.png" alt="Kansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Lee Norman listens to questions during his press conference Wednesday" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Lee Norman listens to questions during his press conference Wednesday</figcaption>
 </figure>MISSION, Kan. (AP) — It began with devastation in the New York City area, followed by a summertime crisis in the Sun Belt. Now the coronavirus outbreak is heating up fast in smaller cities in the heartland, often in conservative corners of America where anti-mask sentiment runs high.Elsewhere around the country, Florida’s Republican governor lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses Friday and all but set aside local mask ordinances in the political battleground state, in a move attacked by Democrats as hasty.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1601054548620.png" alt="Friday Sept. 25, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Friday Sept. 25, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>Meanwhile, confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. hit another milestone — 7 million — according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real number of infections is believed to be much higher.The spike across the Midwest as well as parts of the West has set off alarms at hospitals, schools and colleges.Wisconsin is averaging more than 2,000 new cases a day over the last week, compared with 675 three weeks earlier. Hospitalizations in the state are at their highest level since the outbreak took hold in the U.S. in March.Utah has seen its average daily case count more than double from three weeks earlier. Oklahoma and Missouri are regularly recording 1,000 new cases a day, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch opponent of mask rules, tested positive this week. Kansas and Iowa are also witnessing a spike in cases. And South Dakota and Idaho are seeing sky-high rates of tests coming back positive.“What we’re seeing is the newer hot spots rise over the course of the last several weeks, predominantly in the Upper Midwest,” said Thomas Tsai, a professor at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health.The U.S. is averaging more than 40,000 new confirmed cases a day. While that number is dramatically lower than the peak of nearly 70,000 over the summer, the numbers are worrisome nonetheless. The nation’s death toll eclipsed 200,000 this week, the highest in the world.In the Midwest, the virus is now landing squarely in places where there is strong resistance to masks and governors have been reluctant to require face coverings.In Springfield, Missouri, hospitals are starting to fill up with COVID-19 patients and the city has seen a big spike in deaths over the past month.Amelia Montgomery, a nurse working in the COVID unit at Cox South Hospital in Springfield, describes a maddening routine where family members of sick patients call up medical staff on the phone on a daily basis and question whether their loved ones truly have the virus and and the veracity of positive test results.“We know what COVID looks like now after six months of dealing with it,” Montgomery said. “It is like beating your head against a brick wall when you are constantly having patients, family members of these patients and the community argue so intensely that it is not real or we are treating it in the wrong way.”The skepticism about the virus coincides with deep frustration over mask requirements in the Midwestern cities that actually have them.Mike Cooper, a 59-year-old and sign shop owner from the Branson, Missouri, area, is among those who have grown weary of virus restrictions that he sees as out-of-control government overreach. He has no doubts about the seriousness of the virus, but says the financial toll of business and school shutdowns creates its own set of health problems, such as alcoholism, suicide and depression. “Financial ruin kills people too,” he said.“To me, flatten the curve means extend the plague. Flatten the curve means you are just going to kill the same number of people over a longer period of time, so they are going to extend the plague,” Cooper said.In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a major ally of President Donald Trump, gave businesses the OK to reopen, declaring, “We’re not closing anything going forward.”The governor, who has resisted making mask-wearing mandatory statewide, also said he will stop cities and counties from collecting fines from people who don’t cover their faces, virtually nullifying local mask ordinances.Florida was a major hot spot over the summer, and the death toll there stands at nearly 14,000. Deaths are running at over 100 a day, and newly confirmed infections at about 2,700 a day.Like Trump, DeSantis has questioned the effectiveness of closing down businesses, arguing that states that more aggressively shut down, including California, have fared no better.“The state of Florida is probably the most open big state in the country,” he boasted Friday.Florida Democrats have bemoaned the governor’s push to reopen.“No one is advocating for a full-scale lockdown in Florida. But we have been and continue to ask for common-sense prevention measures such as face masks, which are essential to preventing further spread,” state Sen. Audrey Gibson said Thursday.In other developments:— Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced he and his wife have tested positive, though he said he has no symptoms. Northam, a Democrat who is also a doctor and usually wears a mask in public, has been criticized by Republicans who say his restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus are too stringent.— Two former administrators of a Massachusetts veterans home where nearly 80 people died were charged with neglect over their handling of the outbreak. They could go to prison if convicted. It is believed to be the nation’s first criminal case brought against nursing home officials for actions during the crisis.— In New York City, which beat back the virus after a disastrous spring, four Orthodox Jewish schools were closed for violating social-distancing rules. Health officials said if virus cases in these neighborhoods continue to build, the city might roll back the reopening in some places and require businesses to close back down.Mask and social distancing rules are starting to cause fatigue in some areas of the Midwest and West.In Joplin, Missouri, a mask ordinance was allowed to expire in mid-August as virus fatigue grew. Since then, the number of positive cases there and in surrounding Jasper County — a deeply conservative county that Trump won by more than 50 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016 — has risen about 80%.“I am getting sick and tired of telling people to wear their masks, and I know they are sick and tired of me saying it,” said Tony Moehr, chief of the Jasper County Health Department. “And it just seems like people have heard it so many times, I’m not sure if they really even hear it anymore when we say it.”At the home of the University of Oklahoma, the Norman City Council voted 5-3 this week to require that masks be worn indoors at house parties if more than 25 people are present. The ordinance passed over objections from members of the public.“You can make any law that you want to. You come into my house telling me that I got to wear this stupid thing and you’re going to have a firefight on your hands,” said Josh Danforth, holding a mask, who identified himself as an Iraq war veteran.

Virus cases rise in US heartland, home to anti-mask feelings

Barton County coronavirus update: 142 active cases

Press release from Barton County...

Karen Winkelman, Barton County Health Officer, clarifies COVID-19 quarantine recommendation letters.

The Barton County Health Department received numerous complaints this past week regarding the recommended quarantine of Great Bend High School volleyball players. Barton County officials met with USD 428 administration on Tuesday to discuss the list of close contacts as identified by the school district and provided to the BCHD in addition to future protocols. 

Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) guidance for calculating the beginning of a quarantine period can be subject to interpretation. Therefore, the Health Department consulted with KDHE for clarification. As a result, the quarantine period will be calculated at 14 days from the date of the last known contact with a positive case. This will reduce the issued letters of recommended quarantine by 1 day.

Barton County appreciates the countless hours Winkelman and her staff have devoted to this pandemic. The Barton County Health Department strives to protect the public from this pandemic. We regret any confusion this may have caused and appreciate your understanding.

Read the story from Monday's Barton County Commission meeting regarding the Great Bend High School volleyball members getting quarantined by clicking <a href="https://greatbendpost.com/posts/7a5a1783-458d-4e74-a86f-be9517f0ab23">HERE</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600896779586.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Press release from Barton County...Karen Winkelman, Barton County Health Officer, clarifies COVID-19 quarantine recommendation letters.The Barton County Health Department received numerous complaints this past week regarding the recommended quarantine of Great Bend High School volleyball players. Barton County officials met with USD 428 administration on Tuesday to discuss the list of close contacts as identified by the school district and provided to the BCHD in addition to future protocols. Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) guidance for calculating the beginning of a quarantine period can be subject to interpretation. Therefore, the Health Department consulted with KDHE for clarification. As a result, the quarantine period will be calculated at 14 days from the date of the last known contact with a positive case. This will reduce the issued letters of recommended quarantine by 1 day.Barton County appreciates the countless hours Winkelman and her staff have devoted to this pandemic. The Barton County Health Department strives to protect the public from this pandemic. We regret any confusion this may have caused and appreciate your understanding.Read the story from Monday's Barton County Commission meeting regarding the Great Bend High School volleyball members getting quarantined by clicking <a href="https://greatbendpost.com/posts/7a5a1783-458d-4e74-a86f-be9517f0ab23">HERE</a>.

COVID-19 volleyball quarantine clarification 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas set another record Wednesday for its biggest seven-day spike in new confirmed coronavirus cases, and the state’s top public health official said it’s a sign that the state is seeing community spread of the virus even in “frontier” counties.

The state health department reported 1,267 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since Monday, an increase of 2.3%, to bring the total to 55,226. The average number of new cases per day was 622 for the seven days ending Wednesday, surpassing the previous record average of 615 for the first seven days of September.

The state also reported another 21 deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total for the pandemic to 621. Nine of those deaths occurred before this week and were added to the total after a regular review of death certificates.

Dr. Lee Norman, the state health department’s head, acknowledged that the number of deaths as a total of positive cases has hovered around 1.1%. He said hospitals aren’t overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, largely because a higher percentage of younger people are getting infected. The median age of Kansas residents testing is 35, having dropped steadily since the end of March.

But Norman said during a Statehouse news conference that a “worrisome concern” is that the state anticipates that cases will continue to rise, and “1.1% of an ever-enlarging number is an ever-enlarging number.”

“We’re getting more widespread community spread statewide,” Norman said. “It’s not as just located in packing plants, nursing homes and the like, and so it’s becoming more community spread in rural and frontier counties.”

Kansas has no statewide mandate for people to wear masks in public because of a pandemic-management law enacted in June as a compromise between Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Republican-controlled Legislature. The law has left decisions about restrictions on businesses and public gatherings and when K-12 schools should resume&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2b5daf37e0f9a8d4f4b108d53a6139fb">to local officials.&nbsp;</a>GOP lawmakers recently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9436c3901c2eaaf3ae46d1763804bed9">extracted a public promise</a>&nbsp;from Kelly that she won’t seek to close businesses statewide again, as she did in the spring.

During the past two weeks, the biggest increases in reported cases per 1,000 residents have been in rural central or western Kansas counties. Cheyenne County in the state’s far northwestern corner is in the lead with nearly 17 new cases per 1,000 residents, having seen its total case count jump from nine to 54, according to the state health department.

Four of the top five counties for total cases per 1,000 residents also are in central or western Kansas, led by Ford County in southwestern Kansas, with nearly 82 reported cases per 1,000 residents for the pandemic.

“It’s more widespread — urban, surburban, rural, frontier — and those are contributing to the overall numbers in an unfortunate way,” Norman said. “There’s a lot more young people that are getting infected in schools and colleges and universities and sports.”

Meanwhile, the University of Kansas Medical Center is part of a nationwide clinical trial looking into different treatments for patients with mild to moderate symptoms of the coronavirus who do not require hospitalization.

The first treatment will involve a drug made by Eli Lilly and the use of engineered versions of the same virus-fighting antibodies that the body naturally produces, KCUR-FM reported. The clinical trial is one of at least 40 around the country.

KU Medical Center’s lead investigator, Dr. Mario Castro, said the trial will allow for the introduction of multiple agents to combat COVID-19 as they become available.

By JOHN HANNATOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas set another record Wednesday for its biggest seven-day spike in new confirmed coronavirus cases, and the state’s top public health official said it’s a sign that the state is seeing community spread of the virus even in “frontier” counties.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKDHEnews%2Fvideos%2F764889104292142%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The state health department reported 1,267 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since Monday, an increase of 2.3%, to bring the total to 55,226. The average number of new cases per day was 622 for the seven days ending Wednesday, surpassing the previous record average of 615 for the first seven days of September.The state also reported another 21 deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total for the pandemic to 621. Nine of those deaths occurred before this week and were added to the total after a regular review of death certificates.Dr. Lee Norman, the state health department’s head, acknowledged that the number of deaths as a total of positive cases has hovered around 1.1%. He said hospitals aren’t overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, largely because a higher percentage of younger people are getting infected. The median age of Kansas residents testing is 35, having dropped steadily since the end of March.But Norman said during a Statehouse news conference that a “worrisome concern” is that the state anticipates that cases will continue to rise, and “1.1% of an ever-enlarging number is an ever-enlarging number.”“We’re getting more widespread community spread statewide,” Norman said. “It’s not as just located in packing plants, nursing homes and the like, and so it’s becoming more community spread in rural and frontier counties.”Kansas has no statewide mandate for people to wear masks in public because of a pandemic-management law enacted in June as a compromise between Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Republican-controlled Legislature. The law has left decisions about restrictions on businesses and public gatherings and when K-12 schools should resume&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2b5daf37e0f9a8d4f4b108d53a6139fb">to local officials.&nbsp;</a>GOP lawmakers recently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9436c3901c2eaaf3ae46d1763804bed9">extracted a public promise</a>&nbsp;from Kelly that she won’t seek to close businesses statewide again, as she did in the spring.During the past two weeks, the biggest increases in reported cases per 1,000 residents have been in rural central or western Kansas counties. Cheyenne County in the state’s far northwestern corner is in the lead with nearly 17 new cases per 1,000 residents, having seen its total case count jump from nine to 54, according to the state health department.Four of the top five counties for total cases per 1,000 residents also are in central or western Kansas, led by Ford County in southwestern Kansas, with nearly 82 reported cases per 1,000 residents for the pandemic.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600881352224.png" alt="Wednesday Sept. 23, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Wednesday Sept. 23, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>“It’s more widespread — urban, surburban, rural, frontier — and those are contributing to the overall numbers in an unfortunate way,” Norman said. “There’s a lot more young people that are getting infected in schools and colleges and universities and sports.”Meanwhile, the University of Kansas Medical Center is part of a nationwide clinical trial looking into different treatments for patients with mild to moderate symptoms of the coronavirus who do not require hospitalization.The first treatment will involve a drug made by Eli Lilly and the use of engineered versions of the same virus-fighting antibodies that the body naturally produces, KCUR-FM reported. The clinical trial is one of at least 40 around the country.KU Medical Center’s lead investigator, Dr. Mario Castro, said the trial will allow for the introduction of multiple agents to combat COVID-19 as they become available.<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.

🎥  Even ‘frontier’ counties hit in Kansas’ new COVID-19 spike

It is with great sadness that we announce that Barton County has confirmed the sixth and seventh known COVID-19 related deaths of Barton County residents.

Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the family, friends, and caregivers. 

From Barton County...It is with great sadness that we announce that Barton County has confirmed the sixth and seventh known COVID-19 related deaths of Barton County residents.Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the family, friends, and caregivers.

Barton County announces 2 additional COVID-19 related deaths

Johnson &amp; Johnson is beginning a huge final study to try to prove if a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine can protect against the virus.

The study starting Wednesday will be one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccine studies so far, testing the shot in 60,000 volunteers in the U.S., South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

A handful of other vaccines in the U.S. — including shots made by Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. — and others in other countries are already in final-stage testing. Hopes are high that answers about at least one candidate being tested in the U.S. could come by year's end, maybe sooner.

U.S. health officials insist the race for a vaccine isn't cutting corners.

“We want to do everything we can without sacrificing safety or efficacy — we’re not going to do that — to make sure that we end up with vaccines that are going to save lives,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told reporters.

But many vaccine specialists question whether the Food and Drug Administration will stick to that goal under intense pressure from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has consistently presented a faster timeline for a new vaccine than experts say is adequate to fully test the candidates.

Meanwhile, testing of still another experimental vaccine, made by AstraZeneca, remains on hold in the U.S. as officials examine a safety question, even though studies have resumed in other countries.

Earlier this week, Vice President Mike Pence urged state governors to "do your part to build public confidence that it will be a safe and effective vaccine.”

And Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, added in the call to governors that he is confident in “a tried and true process” that has checks and balances built in, including an independent board evaluating the progress of each vaccine trial, as well as “the integrity of the FDA.”

A recording of the call was provided to The Associated Press.

Senators were scheduled to question FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Fauci and other administration officials later Wednesday about the pandemic response.

Even if the FDA were to allow emergency use of a vaccine by year's end, supplies would be limited and given first to vulnerable groups such as health workers. Most Americans aren't likely to receive a vaccine until sometime next year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants states to get ready now to roll out vaccinations, which will present enormous logistical challenges. On Wednesday the CDC was set to announce distribution of $200 million in congressionally approved funds to help begin setting up operations.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the COVID-19 vaccine campaign will build on longstanding cooperation between the federal government and the states on immunizations.

J&amp;J's vaccine is made with slightly different technology than others in late-stage testing, modeled on an Ebola vaccine the company created. Unlike the other three vaccines that started late-stage testing in the U.S., it requires only one shot, not two. Despite a later start to testing than some of its competitors, Dr. Paul Stoffels, J&amp;J's chief scientific officer, told reporters that the study was large enough to yield answers possibly by early next year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600861747887.png" alt="Vaccine photo courtesy Johnson &amp; Johnson" />
 <figcaption>Vaccine photo courtesy Johnson &amp; Johnson</figcaption>
 </figure>By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated PressJohnson &amp; Johnson is beginning a huge final study to try to prove if a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine can protect against the virus.The study starting Wednesday will be one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccine studies so far, testing the shot in 60,000 volunteers in the U.S., South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.A handful of other vaccines in the U.S. — including shots made by Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. — and others in other countries are already in final-stage testing. Hopes are high that answers about at least one candidate being tested in the U.S. could come by year's end, maybe sooner.U.S. health officials insist the race for a vaccine isn't cutting corners.“We want to do everything we can without sacrificing safety or efficacy — we’re not going to do that — to make sure that we end up with vaccines that are going to save lives,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told reporters.But many vaccine specialists question whether the Food and Drug Administration will stick to that goal under intense pressure from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has consistently presented a faster timeline for a new vaccine than experts say is adequate to fully test the candidates.Meanwhile, testing of still another experimental vaccine, made by AstraZeneca, remains on hold in the U.S. as officials examine a safety question, even though studies have resumed in other countries.Earlier this week, Vice President Mike Pence urged state governors to "do your part to build public confidence that it will be a safe and effective vaccine.”And Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, added in the call to governors that he is confident in “a tried and true process” that has checks and balances built in, including an independent board evaluating the progress of each vaccine trial, as well as “the integrity of the FDA.”A recording of the call was provided to The Associated Press.Senators were scheduled to question FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Fauci and other administration officials later Wednesday about the pandemic response.Even if the FDA were to allow emergency use of a vaccine by year's end, supplies would be limited and given first to vulnerable groups such as health workers. Most Americans aren't likely to receive a vaccine until sometime next year.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants states to get ready now to roll out vaccinations, which will present enormous logistical challenges. On Wednesday the CDC was set to announce distribution of $200 million in congressionally approved funds to help begin setting up operations.Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the COVID-19 vaccine campaign will build on longstanding cooperation between the federal government and the states on immunizations.J&amp;J's vaccine is made with slightly different technology than others in late-stage testing, modeled on an Ebola vaccine the company created. Unlike the other three vaccines that started late-stage testing in the U.S., it requires only one shot, not two. Despite a later start to testing than some of its competitors, Dr. Paul Stoffels, J&amp;J's chief scientific officer, told reporters that the study was large enough to yield answers possibly by early next year.___

Late-stage study of first single-shot vaccine begins in US

TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Monday she is increasingly concerned the state does not have the infrastructure and policies in place to stop a continuing increase in confirmed cases of the coronavirus

On Monday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 53,959 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 600 deaths since the pandemic began. That’s an increase of 1,674 cases and four deaths over the weekend.

The governor said the state has consistently confirmed an average of about 500 new cases per day in the recent weeks, particularly as schools are reopening, sports have resumed and flu season is quickly approaching.

“We knew this was coming, we knew we could prepare for it but because we failed to implement a coherent, coordinated mask policy, because we have taken an ineffective, patchwork approach to our COVID-19 response, cases and deaths continue to rise,” she said.

Early in the pandemic, Kelly issued statewide mandates to wear masks and close some businesses but the GOP-led Legislature pushed back and passed a law that requires a Republican-majority council to approve the governor’s emergency executive orders. That led to allowing counties to decide individually if they would follow the orders.

That lack of a coherent, statewide response to the coronavirus — along with Kansas Republican leaders’ refusal to expand Medicaid — endangers residents’ lives and is a factor that companies consider when deciding whether to move to Kansas, she said.

“We must provide prospective employers with certainty that their employees and their families will have access to affordable health care,” she said. “Our state path to economic growth is dependent upon healthy Kansans.”

The county health department said the positive case involved a person at Timber Creek Elementary School in the Blue Valley district, but they did not say if a student or staff member was infected.

In Johnson County, health officials urged more than 100 people who had contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 at an elementary school in Overland Park to quarantine for 14 days, but some parents are objecting to the recommendation.

The department sent a letter Saturday to Blue Valley Superintendent Tonya Merrigan, urging affected individuals to abide by the quarantine.

Sanmi Areola, county health director, said on Monday that the 14-day quarantine is the appropriate action to contain the spread, The Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/education/article245891520.html" target="_blank">reported</a>.

Elementary students returned to a mix of remote and in-person schooling in Blue Valley on Sept. 9. The district currently plans to bring elementary students back to in-person classes full time on Oct. 5.

Several parents who want to return now to full-time, in-person classes protested at the school Sunday. Christine White, a pediatrician who has frequently called for schools to reopen, hosted the rally.

She said in a Facebook post that the quarantine was a “massive overreaction.”

“Please understand that if we let this action by the health department and school go unchecked and we let them slide, then they will know we have a breaking point where we will just lay down and accept the crumbs of an education for our children,” she wrote.

TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Monday she is increasingly concerned the state does not have the infrastructure and policies in place to stop a continuing increase in confirmed cases of the coronavirus<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGovLauraKelly%2Fvideos%2F375702983819963%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>On Monday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 53,959 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 600 deaths since the pandemic began. That’s an increase of 1,674 cases and four deaths over the weekend.The governor said the state has consistently confirmed an average of about 500 new cases per day in the recent weeks, particularly as schools are reopening, sports have resumed and flu season is quickly approaching.“We knew this was coming, we knew we could prepare for it but because we failed to implement a coherent, coordinated mask policy, because we have taken an ineffective, patchwork approach to our COVID-19 response, cases and deaths continue to rise,” she said.Early in the pandemic, Kelly issued statewide mandates to wear masks and close some businesses but the GOP-led Legislature pushed back and passed a law that requires a Republican-majority council to approve the governor’s emergency executive orders. That led to allowing counties to decide individually if they would follow the orders.That lack of a coherent, statewide response to the coronavirus — along with Kansas Republican leaders’ refusal to expand Medicaid — endangers residents’ lives and is a factor that companies consider when deciding whether to move to Kansas, she said.“We must provide prospective employers with certainty that their employees and their families will have access to affordable health care,” she said. “Our state path to economic growth is dependent upon healthy Kansans.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600708052188.png" alt="Sept. 21, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Sept. 21, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>The county health department said the positive case involved a person at Timber Creek Elementary School in the Blue Valley district, but they did not say if a student or staff member was infected.In Johnson County, health officials urged more than 100 people who had contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 at an elementary school in Overland Park to quarantine for 14 days, but some parents are objecting to the recommendation.The department sent a letter Saturday to Blue Valley Superintendent Tonya Merrigan, urging affected individuals to abide by the quarantine.Sanmi Areola, county health director, said on Monday that the 14-day quarantine is the appropriate action to contain the spread, The Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/education/article245891520.html" target="_blank">reported</a>.Elementary students returned to a mix of remote and in-person schooling in Blue Valley on Sept. 9. The district currently plans to bring elementary students back to in-person classes full time on Oct. 5.Several parents who want to return now to full-time, in-person classes protested at the school Sunday. Christine White, a pediatrician who has frequently called for schools to reopen, hosted the rally.She said in a Facebook post that the quarantine was a “massive overreaction.”“Please understand that if we let this action by the health department and school go unchecked and we let them slide, then they will know we have a breaking point where we will just lay down and accept the crumbs of an education for our children,” she wrote.----------

🎥  Governor concerned about state's response to coronavirus

NEW YORK (AP) — The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting — and then taking down — an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person through the air.

But officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say their position has not really changed and that the post last week on the agency’s website was an error that has been taken down.

It was “an honest mistake” that happened when a draft update was posted before going through a full editing and approval process, said Dr. Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director for infectious diseases.

The post suggested that the agency believes the virus can hang in the air and spread over an extended distance. But the agency continues to believe larger and heavier droplets that come from coughing or sneezing are the primary means of transmission, Butler said.

Most CDC guidance about social distancing is built around that idea, saying that about 6 feet is a safe buffer between people who are not wearing masks.

In interviews, CDC officials have acknowledged growing evidence that the virus can sometimes be transmitted on even smaller, aerosolized particles or droplets that spread over a wider area. Certain case clusters have been tied to events in which the virus appeared to have spread through the air in, for example, a choir practice. But such incidents did not appear to be common.

Public health experts urge people to wear masks, which can stop or reduce contact with both larger droplets and aerosolized particles.

But for months, agency officials said little about aerosolized particles. So when the CDC quietly posted an update Friday that discussed the particles in more detail, the agency’s position appeared to have changed. The post said the virus can remain suspended in the air and drift more than 6 feet. It also emphasized the importance of indoor ventilation and seemed to describe the coronavirus as the kind of germ that can spread widely through the air.

The post caused widespread discussion in public health circles because of its implications. It could mean, for example, that hospitals might have to place infected people in rooms that are specially designed to prevent air from flowing to other parts of the hospital.

But the CDC is not advising any changes in how far people stay away from each other, how they are housed at hospitals or other measures, Butler said.

The CDC has come under attack for past revisions of guidance during the pandemic, some of which were driven by political pressure by the Trump administration.

Butler said there was no external political pressure behind the change in this instance. “This was an internal issue,. And we’re working hard to address it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

In a statement released Monday, the CDC said the revisions to the “How COVID-19 Spreads” page happened “without appropriate in-house technical review.”

“We are reviewing our process and tightening criteria for review of all guidance and updates before they are posted to the CDC website,” the statement said.

At least one expert said the episode could further chip away at public confidence in the CDC.

“The consistent inconsistency in this administration’s guidance on COVID-19 has severely compromised the nation’s trust in our public health agencies,” said Dr. Howard Koh, a Harvard University public health professor who was a high-ranking official in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600453488360.png" alt="CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield during testimony before a congressional committee last week in Washington -photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield during testimony before a congressional committee last week in Washington -photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting — and then taking down — an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person through the air.But officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say their position has not really changed and that the post last week on the agency’s website was an error that has been taken down.It was “an honest mistake” that happened when a draft update was posted before going through a full editing and approval process, said Dr. Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director for infectious diseases.The post suggested that the agency believes the virus can hang in the air and spread over an extended distance. But the agency continues to believe larger and heavier droplets that come from coughing or sneezing are the primary means of transmission, Butler said.Most CDC guidance about social distancing is built around that idea, saying that about 6 feet is a safe buffer between people who are not wearing masks.In interviews, CDC officials have acknowledged growing evidence that the virus can sometimes be transmitted on even smaller, aerosolized particles or droplets that spread over a wider area. Certain case clusters have been tied to events in which the virus appeared to have spread through the air in, for example, a choir practice. But such incidents did not appear to be common.Public health experts urge people to wear masks, which can stop or reduce contact with both larger droplets and aerosolized particles.But for months, agency officials said little about aerosolized particles. So when the CDC quietly posted an update Friday that discussed the particles in more detail, the agency’s position appeared to have changed. The post said the virus can remain suspended in the air and drift more than 6 feet. It also emphasized the importance of indoor ventilation and seemed to describe the coronavirus as the kind of germ that can spread widely through the air.The post caused widespread discussion in public health circles because of its implications. It could mean, for example, that hospitals might have to place infected people in rooms that are specially designed to prevent air from flowing to other parts of the hospital.But the CDC is not advising any changes in how far people stay away from each other, how they are housed at hospitals or other measures, Butler said.The CDC has come under attack for past revisions of guidance during the pandemic, some of which were driven by political pressure by the Trump administration.Butler said there was no external political pressure behind the change in this instance. “This was an internal issue,. And we’re working hard to address it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.In a statement released Monday, the CDC said the revisions to the “How COVID-19 Spreads” page happened “without appropriate in-house technical review.”“We are reviewing our process and tightening criteria for review of all guidance and updates before they are posted to the CDC website,” the statement said.At least one expert said the episode could further chip away at public confidence in the CDC.“The consistent inconsistency in this administration’s guidance on COVID-19 has severely compromised the nation’s trust in our public health agencies,” said Dr. Howard Koh, a Harvard University public health professor who was a high-ranking official in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration.

CDC changes, then retracts, web posting on how virus spreads

Barton County coronavirus update: 144 active cases


















Great Bend High School volleyball coach Shelly Duvall addressed the
Barton County Commission Monday morning with concerns on a large quarantine
order that sidelined her team this past weekend. 

A student-athlete that was
already in quarantine, tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, Sept. 17.
The student was a member of the junior varsity (JV) volleyball team. A quarantine
order was issued Saturday, Sept. 19 for the entire volleyball
team, 27 girls including the varsity squad. 

Duvall says her volleyball team
received notice about the quarantine during competition Saturday and was
removed from play after receiving word. Duvall could understand eight students being
quarantined because of their interaction with the athlete on the JV team, but
did not understand why the varsity team should be affected.


"What I am not understanding is this is occurring, but then we look at the classroom that this certain child was in," said Duvall. "She was in a P.E. class of 60 kids that are not in masks but only two of those students were quarantined. But we quarantined 27 volleyball girls that are in an open gym, in masks, for two hours during practice."


Barton County Health Director Karen Winkelman told Commissioners that the Health
Department is charged with contacting only one representative from the Great
Bend school district. Winkelman stated the spokesperson for USD 428 is
Superintendent Khris Thexton. Winkelman explained the recommended quarantine
order for the volleyball team and that it was Thexton that made the final decision.


While Thexton agreed, he also stated receiving a recommendation from Health
Department hasn’t always felt like an option for one person.


"When the Health Department says it is their recommendation and I don't follow that recommendation, what kind of situation does that put myself, students and district in?" said Thexton. "It is not about assigning blame on who does what. Yes, it is my job to make that call, but I'm not making that call based on a whim I have. I'm relying on the Health Department and the medical community."


Thexton also noted the school nurses were notified of the situation and they
created a list of students that should receive the recommended quarantines.
Thexton says the list the school nurses gave to the Health Department was not
carried out. Barton County chose to place quarantine orders on all the
volleyball teams. 

Duvall and Thexton asked the county for better communication
and that contact tracing could be handled by school nurses rather than the
Health Department.

Listen below to the entire discussion from the GBHS volleyball team quarantine topic at the Barton County Commission meeting Sept. 21, 2020.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598360707795.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
















Great Bend High School volleyball coach Shelly Duvall addressed the
Barton County Commission Monday morning with concerns on a large quarantine
order that sidelined her team this past weekend. A student-athlete that was
already in quarantine, tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, Sept. 17.
The student was a member of the junior varsity (JV) volleyball team. A quarantine
order was issued Saturday, Sept. 19 for the entire volleyball
team, 27 girls including the varsity squad. Duvall says her volleyball team
received notice about the quarantine during competition Saturday and was
removed from play after receiving word. Duvall could understand eight students being
quarantined because of their interaction with the athlete on the JV team, but
did not understand why the varsity team should be affected.
"What I am not understanding is this is occurring, but then we look at the classroom that this certain child was in," said Duvall. "She was in a P.E. class of 60 kids that are not in masks but only two of those students were quarantined. But we quarantined 27 volleyball girls that are in an open gym, in masks, for two hours during practice."
Barton County Health Director Karen Winkelman told Commissioners that the Health
Department is charged with contacting only one representative from the Great
Bend school district. Winkelman stated the spokesperson for USD 428 is
Superintendent Khris Thexton. Winkelman explained the recommended quarantine
order for the volleyball team and that it was Thexton that made the final decision.
While Thexton agreed, he also stated receiving a recommendation from Health
Department hasn’t always felt like an option for one person.
"When the Health Department says it is their recommendation and I don't follow that recommendation, what kind of situation does that put myself, students and district in?" said Thexton. "It is not about assigning blame on who does what. Yes, it is my job to make that call, but I'm not making that call based on a whim I have. I'm relying on the Health Department and the medical community."
Thexton also noted the school nurses were notified of the situation and they
created a list of students that should receive the recommended quarantines.
Thexton says the list the school nurses gave to the Health Department was not
carried out. Barton County chose to place quarantine orders on all the
volleyball teams. Duvall and Thexton asked the county for better communication
and that contact tracing could be handled by school nurses rather than the
Health Department.Listen below to the entire discussion from the GBHS volleyball team quarantine topic at the Barton County Commission meeting Sept. 21, 2020.<div><iframe width="100%" height="265" src="https://clyp.it/ioxvlil2/widget" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>

🎧GBHS volleyball team gets quarantined; raises questions on orders

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday dropped a controversial piece of coronavirus guidance and said anyone who has been in close contact with an infected person should get tested.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention essentially returned to its previous testing guidance, getting rid of language&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d36e698786f971658301d2cf4f83ad61">posted last month</a>&nbsp;that said people didn’t need to get tested if they didn’t feel sick. That change had set off a rash of criticism from health experts who couldn’t fathom why the nation’s top public health agency would say such a thing amid the pandemic.

It was “not consistent with the basic principles of controlling an epidemic,”said Dr. Silvia Chiang, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Brown University who applauded the change announced Friday.

The CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/testing-overview.html" target="_blank">now says</a>&nbsp;anyone who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes should get a test. In a statement, the agency called the changes a “clarification” that was needed “due to the significance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission.”

Agency officials declined additional comment.

Health officials were evasive about why they had made the change in August, and some outside observers speculated it was forced on the CDC by political appointees within the Trump administration.

At the time, administration officials said the language originated at the CDC but the decision came out of meetings of the White House coronavirus task force. Dr. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said many federal leaders outside the agency were involved in “lots of editing, lots of input.” He said it was difficult to attribute the final language to any one source.

The New York Times, citing internal federal documents and unnamed sources, on Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/health/coronavirus-testing-cdc.html" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that the guidance was placed on the CDC’s website over the objections of agency scientists.

Public health experts have noted that testing the contacts of infected people is a core element of efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of those infected with the coronavirus exhibit no COVID-19 symptoms.

The CDC’s chief, Dr. Robert Redfield, issued a statement shortly after the controversy erupted that did little to clarify why the change was deemed necessary. The main intent seemed to be to assure state health officials that they could continue to recommend that all close contacts be tested if they felt that was wisest, despite the website language that said it was not necessary.

During a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, Redfield continued to defend the language that was dropped Friday. He said the August changes had been “misinterpreted” and were part of an effort to increase engagement by doctors and local health officials in the handling of potential illness clusters.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600453488360.png" alt="CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield during Senate testimony this week-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield during Senate testimony this week-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday dropped a controversial piece of coronavirus guidance and said anyone who has been in close contact with an infected person should get tested.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention essentially returned to its previous testing guidance, getting rid of language&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d36e698786f971658301d2cf4f83ad61">posted last month</a>&nbsp;that said people didn’t need to get tested if they didn’t feel sick. That change had set off a rash of criticism from health experts who couldn’t fathom why the nation’s top public health agency would say such a thing amid the pandemic.It was “not consistent with the basic principles of controlling an epidemic,”said Dr. Silvia Chiang, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Brown University who applauded the change announced Friday.The CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/testing-overview.html" target="_blank">now says</a>&nbsp;anyone who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes should get a test. In a statement, the agency called the changes a “clarification” that was needed “due to the significance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission.”Agency officials declined additional comment.Health officials were evasive about why they had made the change in August, and some outside observers speculated it was forced on the CDC by political appointees within the Trump administration.At the time, administration officials said the language originated at the CDC but the decision came out of meetings of the White House coronavirus task force. Dr. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said many federal leaders outside the agency were involved in “lots of editing, lots of input.” He said it was difficult to attribute the final language to any one source.The New York Times, citing internal federal documents and unnamed sources, on Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/health/coronavirus-testing-cdc.html" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that the guidance was placed on the CDC’s website over the objections of agency scientists.Public health experts have noted that testing the contacts of infected people is a core element of efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of those infected with the coronavirus exhibit no COVID-19 symptoms.The CDC’s chief, Dr. Robert Redfield, issued a statement shortly after the controversy erupted that did little to clarify why the change was deemed necessary. The main intent seemed to be to assure state health officials that they could continue to recommend that all close contacts be tested if they felt that was wisest, despite the website language that said it was not necessary.During a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, Redfield continued to defend the language that was dropped Friday. He said the August changes had been “misinterpreted” and were part of an effort to increase engagement by doctors and local health officials in the handling of potential illness clusters.

CDC drops controversial virus testing advice that caused backlash

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600461947248.jpeg" alt="Barton County reported 40 new cases of active COVID-19 cases as of 3:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 2020." />
 <figcaption>Barton County reported 40 new cases of active COVID-19 cases as of 3:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 2020.</figcaption>
 </figure>

Barton County coronavirus update: 40 new active cases (130 total)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are considering spending $50 million to dramatically ramp up testing of people who aren't showing obvious signs of the coronavirus.

A state task force this week backed Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman’s recommendation to use the federal stimulus money on testing at schools, workplaces and other sites. The goal is to catch coronavirus in people who haven’t even realized they’re carrying it, KCUR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-09-11/how-kansas-could-spend-tens-of-millions-to-test-asymptomatic-people-for-coronavirus">reports.</a>

Some of the testing would be done at Wichita State University, where a new not-for-profit lab is gearing up to churn out hundreds of thousands of tests by the end of the year.

“I know that sounds like a lot,” said Tonya Witherspoon, Wichita State’s vice president of industry engagement, “but we think several labs in the state need to be able to do that much — or more.”

Kansas has so far focused most of its energy on people who know either that they are ill or that they have had direct exposure to a confirmed outbreak. But experts say positivity rates should drop when a state or city goes beyond testing these groups of people who are most likely to be sick.

Right now, about 15% of Kansans who get the test find out they have COVID-19. By Johns Hopkins University’s calculations, that puts it among the states with the highest rates of new positives.

On Wednesday, Kansas health officials reported 971 new cases since Monday, for a total of 50,870 across the state. Kansas also had 52 new deaths, raising that number to 586 since the pandemic began.

Norman said at a news conference that 37 of the new deaths were added through a review of death certificates. But that still meant 15 had occurred since Monday, a higher than normal number.

“We are getting to a very sensitive point in time as we talked about during Labor Day with universities, colleges and schools starting back again, athletics those sorts of things,” Norman said. “People are starting to mass gather again in ways that we didn’t see as much of over the summer when people were more dispersed out. As the overall number count goes up, we are going to have more deaths.”

The positive cases include 841 at the University of Kansas, where house parties near campus are raising alarms.

After a debate during the Lawrence City Commission meeting Tuesday, a majority of the commissioners said they were interested in at least considering an ordinance that would make it a municipal offense to violate local health orders designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the Lawrence Journal-World&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.ljworld.com/news/city-government/2020/sep/16/city-leaders-express-interest-in-creating-ordinance-that-would-make-disregarding-health-orders-a-municipal-offense/">reports</a>.

City Attorney Toni Wheeler said the offense would be a misdemeanor that could be prosecuted in municipal court. Violators could face a fine of no more than $500, up to 30 days in jail or both.

However, Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei and Mayor Jennifer Ananda said they were not sure that creating a municipal ordinance would be the best approach, and that perhaps stronger disciplinary action from the university, such as bans from campus, mandatory quarantines or suspensions, would be more effective.

Meanwhile, Gov. Laura Kelly hosted a discussion with rural hospital administrators on Wednesday where she urged them to “exert pressure” on lawmakers to support a proposal to expand Medicaid in Kansas.

In the discussion, Harold Courtois, CEO for the Memorial Health System in Abilene, said his organization is worried about running out of personal protective equipment, particularly medical N95 respirators, known as N95 masks, ahead of the flu season.

“My fear is that during the influenza season, where everybody appears to have COVID -- whether it’s influenza or not -- PPE is going to become scarce and be very difficult to acquire again,” Courtois said. “It just doesn’t seem like we see a lot of PPE unless you’re willing to pay enormous prices. There’s still price gouging going on every week

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600340563243.png" alt="KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman during his press conference on Wednesday" />
 <figcaption>KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman during his press conference on Wednesday</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are considering spending $50 million to dramatically ramp up testing of people who aren't showing obvious signs of the coronavirus.A state task force this week backed Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman’s recommendation to use the federal stimulus money on testing at schools, workplaces and other sites. The goal is to catch coronavirus in people who haven’t even realized they’re carrying it, KCUR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-09-11/how-kansas-could-spend-tens-of-millions-to-test-asymptomatic-people-for-coronavirus">reports.</a>Some of the testing would be done at Wichita State University, where a new not-for-profit lab is gearing up to churn out hundreds of thousands of tests by the end of the year.“I know that sounds like a lot,” said Tonya Witherspoon, Wichita State’s vice president of industry engagement, “but we think several labs in the state need to be able to do that much — or more.”Kansas has so far focused most of its energy on people who know either that they are ill or that they have had direct exposure to a confirmed outbreak. But experts say positivity rates should drop when a state or city goes beyond testing these groups of people who are most likely to be sick.Right now, about 15% of Kansans who get the test find out they have COVID-19. By Johns Hopkins University’s calculations, that puts it among the states with the highest rates of new positives.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600277925237.png" alt="Sept. 16, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Sept. 16, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>On Wednesday, Kansas health officials reported 971 new cases since Monday, for a total of 50,870 across the state. Kansas also had 52 new deaths, raising that number to 586 since the pandemic began.Norman said at a news conference that 37 of the new deaths were added through a review of death certificates. But that still meant 15 had occurred since Monday, a higher than normal number.“We are getting to a very sensitive point in time as we talked about during Labor Day with universities, colleges and schools starting back again, athletics those sorts of things,” Norman said. “People are starting to mass gather again in ways that we didn’t see as much of over the summer when people were more dispersed out. As the overall number count goes up, we are going to have more deaths.”The positive cases include 841 at the University of Kansas, where house parties near campus are raising alarms.After a debate during the Lawrence City Commission meeting Tuesday, a majority of the commissioners said they were interested in at least considering an ordinance that would make it a municipal offense to violate local health orders designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the Lawrence Journal-World&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.ljworld.com/news/city-government/2020/sep/16/city-leaders-express-interest-in-creating-ordinance-that-would-make-disregarding-health-orders-a-municipal-offense/">reports</a>.City Attorney Toni Wheeler said the offense would be a misdemeanor that could be prosecuted in municipal court. Violators could face a fine of no more than $500, up to 30 days in jail or both.However, Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei and Mayor Jennifer Ananda said they were not sure that creating a municipal ordinance would be the best approach, and that perhaps stronger disciplinary action from the university, such as bans from campus, mandatory quarantines or suspensions, would be more effective.Meanwhile, Gov. Laura Kelly hosted a discussion with rural hospital administrators on Wednesday where she urged them to “exert pressure” on lawmakers to support a proposal to expand Medicaid in Kansas.In the discussion, Harold Courtois, CEO for the Memorial Health System in Abilene, said his organization is worried about running out of personal protective equipment, particularly medical N95 respirators, known as N95 masks, ahead of the flu season.“My fear is that during the influenza season, where everybody appears to have COVID -- whether it’s influenza or not -- PPE is going to become scarce and be very difficult to acquire again,” Courtois said. “It just doesn’t seem like we see a lot of PPE unless you’re willing to pay enormous prices. There’s still price gouging going on every week

Plan calls for more testing of Kansans without virus symptoms

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, assuming a safe and effective shot is developed, even as top health officials faced questions about political interference with virus information reaching the public.

In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/strategy-for-distributing-covid-19-vaccine.pdf" target="_blank">report to Congress</a>&nbsp;and an accompanying&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/downloads/COVID-19-Vaccination-Program-Interim_Playbook.pdf" target="_blank">“playbook” for states and localities,</a>&nbsp;federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or even late this year, eventually ramping up to reach any American who wants a shot. The Pentagon would be involved with the distribution of vaccines, but civilian health workers would be the ones giving shots.

The whole enterprise faces remaining skepticism. Only about half of Americans said they’d get vaccinated in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/dacdc8bc428dd4df6511bfa259cfec44">an Associated Press-NORC poll taken in May.&nbsp;</a>Since then, questions have only mounted about whether the government is trying to rush treatments and vaccines to help President Donald Trump’s reelection chances.

On Wednesday, the Health and Human Services Department announced that political appointee&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/bc1d25c72728fce624831e523e7fc678">Michael Caputo would take a leave of absence</a>. The news followed revelations that the senior communications official had tried to gain editorial control over scientific publications on COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which he contended were hurting the Trump administration.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600265279122.png" alt="Photo courtesy AstraZeneca" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy AstraZeneca</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, assuming a safe and effective shot is developed, even as top health officials faced questions about political interference with virus information reaching the public.In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/strategy-for-distributing-covid-19-vaccine.pdf" target="_blank">report to Congress</a>&nbsp;and an accompanying&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/downloads/COVID-19-Vaccination-Program-Interim_Playbook.pdf" target="_blank">“playbook” for states and localities,</a>&nbsp;federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or even late this year, eventually ramping up to reach any American who wants a shot. The Pentagon would be involved with the distribution of vaccines, but civilian health workers would be the ones giving shots.The whole enterprise faces remaining skepticism. Only about half of Americans said they’d get vaccinated in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/dacdc8bc428dd4df6511bfa259cfec44">an Associated Press-NORC poll taken in May.&nbsp;</a>Since then, questions have only mounted about whether the government is trying to rush treatments and vaccines to help President Donald Trump’s reelection chances.On Wednesday, the Health and Human Services Department announced that political appointee&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/bc1d25c72728fce624831e523e7fc678">Michael Caputo would take a leave of absence</a>. The news followed revelations that the senior communications official had tried to gain editorial control over scientific publications on COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which he contended were hurting the Trump administration.The director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield, responding Wednesday before Senate lawmakers, rejected questions over whether the government’s timeline for states to be ready for a vaccine by Nov. 1 was politically motivated.Redfield told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the “scientific integrity” of his agency’s output “has not been compromised and it will not be compromised under my watch.”He said he was “deeply saddened” by Caputo’s accusations that CDC staff were working as a “resistance unit” against the administration.Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, said political interference had damaged public trust in the government’s health information .“The Trump administration needs to leave the science to the scientists immediately,” Murray said.Although Trump asserted Tuesday that a vaccine could be three to four weeks away, Redfield, made clear to Congress that any version available this year would be in “very limited supply.” The shot wouldn’t be broadly available to most of the U.S. population until the summer of 2021, he estimated.Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, quickly repeated the president’s version at the White House: “We do believe that it will be widely available by the end of the year.”As for the planned vaccine campaign, the CDC playbook for states says it is “much larger in scope and complexity than seasonal influenza or other previous outbreak-related vaccination responses.” Redfield said that his agency will be working with state health officials to execute the vaccination plan in coming days.Among the highlights of the plan:— For most vaccines, people will need two doses, 21 to 28 days apart. Double-dose vaccines will have to come from the same drugmaker. There could be several vaccines from different manufacturers approved and available.— Vaccination of the U.S. population won’t be a sprint but a marathon. Initially there may be a limited supply of vaccines, and the focus will be on protecting health workers, other essential employees, and people in vulnerable groups. “Early in (the) COVID-19 vaccination program there may be a limited supply of vaccine and vaccine efforts may focus on those critical to the response, providing direct care and maintaining societal functions, as well as those at highest risk for developing severe illness,” Redfield said. A second and third phase would expand vaccination to the entire population.— The vaccine itself will be free of charge, thanks to billions of dollars in taxpayer funding approved by Congress and allocated by the Trump administration. The goal is that patients won’t be separately charged for administration of their shots, and officials say they are working to ensure that’s the case for all Medicare recipients and uninsured people as well those covered by insurance at their jobs.— States and local communities will need to devise precise plans for receiving and locally distributing vaccines, some of which will require special handling such as refrigeration or freezing. States and cities have a month to submit plans.— A massive information technology effort will be needed to track who is getting which vaccines and when, and the key challenge involves getting multiple public and private databases to link with each other.Some of the broad components of the federal plan have already been discussed, but Wednesday’s reports attempt to put the key details into a comprehensive framework. Distribution is under the umbrella of Operation Warp Speed, a White House-backed initiative to have vaccines ready to ship in 24 hours from when a version is given emergency use approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Several formulations are undergoing final trials.However, public skepticism remains. Of the Americans who said in the May AP poll that they wouldn’t get vaccinated, the overwhelming majority said they were worried about safety. To effectively protect the nation from the coronavirus, experts say 70% to 90% of Americans must either be vaccinated or have their own immunity from fighting off COVID-19.Before the Republican National Convention in August, the FDA granted authorization for treatment of COVID-19 patients with plasma from people who have recovered, even though some government scientists were not convinced the clinical evidence was sufficiently strong.As public confidence in health agencies has taken a beating, Trump administration officials have been forced to play defense.“We are working closely with our state and local public health partners ... to ensure that Americans can receive the vaccine as soon as possible and vaccinate with confidence,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement Wednesday. “Americans should know that the vaccine development process is being driven completely by science and the data.”That could be a tough sell. In the AP poll, 1 in 5 Americans said they would not get a coronavirus vaccine, and 31% said they were unsure.“We’re dealing in a world of great uncertainty,” said Paul Mango, a top HHS official working on the vaccine plan.

Coronavirus Update