TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A third coronavirus death has been reported in Kansas as more than half of the state’s residents are facing orders to stay at home except for essential services, such as buying groceries or receiving health care.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, announced Tuesday night that the latest victim is a man in his 70s who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

“We offer our prayers and thoughts to the family and friends of the deceased. Their sadness is our sadness,” Mayor David Alvey said in a statement. “Our own family and friends are precious to us, and so I call on each one of us to protect one another and stop the spread of COVID-19!”

As of Tuesday, Kansas was reporting at least 98 positive cases. Two other deaths had been reported previously in the Kansas City area. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the ages of those who tested positive ranged from 7 to 90, with the median age of 52.

At least 10 counties have issued orders for their residents to stay home in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some of the orders take effect Wednesday while others will start early Thursday. Counties that added orders Tuesday included Sedgwick, the home of Wichita, the state’s largest city, and Shawnee, which includes the state capital of Topeka.

Gov. Laura Kelly has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order but she said on Monday that it might become “unavoidable” as more positive cases of COVID-19 are reported.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584111668151.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A third coronavirus death has been reported in Kansas as more than half of the state’s residents are facing orders to stay at home except for essential services, such as buying groceries or receiving health care.The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, announced Tuesday night that the latest victim is a man in his 70s who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.“We offer our prayers and thoughts to the family and friends of the deceased. Their sadness is our sadness,” Mayor David Alvey said in a statement. “Our own family and friends are precious to us, and so I call on each one of us to protect one another and stop the spread of COVID-19!”As of Tuesday, Kansas was reporting at least 98 positive cases. Two other deaths had been reported previously in the Kansas City area. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the ages of those who tested positive ranged from 7 to 90, with the median age of 52.At least 10 counties have issued orders for their residents to stay home in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some of the orders take effect Wednesday while others will start early Thursday. Counties that added orders Tuesday included Sedgwick, the home of Wichita, the state’s largest city, and Shawnee, which includes the state capital of Topeka.Gov. Laura Kelly has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order but she said on Monday that it might become “unavoidable” as more positive cases of COVID-19 are reported.

3rd coronavirus death reported in Kansas

TOPEKA, KAN. (AP) —&nbsp;More than half of Kansas&nbsp;residents are facing orders to stay at home except for essential services, such as buying groceries or receiving health care.

At least 10 counties have issued orders for their residents to stay home in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some of the orders take affect Wednesday while others will start early Thursday. Counties that added orders Tuesday included Sedgwick, the home of Wichita, the state's largest city, and Shawnee, which includes the state capital of Topeka.

As of Tuesday, Kansas was reporting at least 98 positive cases, with two deaths. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the ages of those who tested positive ranged from 7 to 90, with the median age of 52.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585134821305.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, KAN. (AP) —&nbsp;More than half of Kansas&nbsp;residents are facing orders to stay at home except for essential services, such as buying groceries or receiving health care.At least 10 counties have issued orders for their residents to stay home in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some of the orders take affect Wednesday while others will start early Thursday. Counties that added orders Tuesday included Sedgwick, the home of Wichita, the state's largest city, and Shawnee, which includes the state capital of Topeka.Gov. Laura Kelly has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order but she said on Monday that it might become “unavoidable” as more positive cases of COVID-19 are reported.As of Tuesday, Kansas was reporting at least 98 positive cases, with two deaths. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the ages of those who tested positive ranged from 7 to 90, with the median age of 52.For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.

More than half of Kansas under stay-at-home orders

By COLE REIF Great Bend Post


















USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton says information about the Great Bend
school district’s approach for the next eight weeks of school is currently changing
daily. 

The closing of all school buildings in Kansas to stop the spread of
COVID-19 is far from ideal, but USD 428 staff is making the best of the
situation with a plan in place to continue learning for all K-12 students.


Thexton says those students and families that have access to internet can
virtually obtain their lessons and those without internet or unreliable online
resources will have access to the paper/pencil packets.


"We have a lot of families with parents working or an older sibling is watching the younger ones," said Thexton. "We want to be flexible and we do not want this to be a burden."


Continued learning at the elementary schools will focus on reading, writing,
and math. At the middle school and high school levels, there will be a broader
focus on English, math, social studies and science. 

"This is a trying time," Thexton added. "There are a lot of unknowns out there. We want to try to reduce as much anxiety as possible."

While a lot of the learning
responsibility will fall on the student, parent or guardian, USD 428 teachers
will be available to assist learning via phone, email, and even video
conference.


The weekly paper/pencil lessons will be available to be picked up at the
beginning of the week during the free lunch pickup times at school sites from
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.


"The main pickup for the packets will be during the lunch time," Thexton said. "If a parent cannot make that time frame, we will make sure we get those packets to them even if we have to drop it in mail."


USD 428 sent out surveys to all district families to determine what their needs
are to make this continued learning work which begins March 30.

"We will make the accommodations to help kids get the information they need for this plan."

Hear the entire interview with Thexton and Assistant Superintendent John Popp from this week's edition of Room 428 that aired on 1590 KVGB &amp; 95.5 FM March 24.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585077790065.jpeg" alt="Teachers at Riley Elementary School in Great Bend display a message to students during the school closure." />
 <figcaption>Teachers at Riley Elementary School in Great Bend display a message to students during the school closure.</figcaption>
 </figure>By COLE REIF Great Bend Post
















USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton says information about the Great Bend
school district’s approach for the next eight weeks of school is currently changing
daily. The closing of all school buildings in Kansas to stop the spread of
COVID-19 is far from ideal, but USD 428 staff is making the best of the
situation with a plan in place to continue learning for all K-12 students.
Thexton says those students and families that have access to internet can
virtually obtain their lessons and those without internet or unreliable online
resources will have access to the paper/pencil packets.
"We have a lot of families with parents working or an older sibling is watching the younger ones," said Thexton. "We want to be flexible and we do not want this to be a burden."
Continued learning at the elementary schools will focus on reading, writing,
and math. At the middle school and high school levels, there will be a broader
focus on English, math, social studies and science. "This is a trying time," Thexton added. "There are a lot of unknowns out there. We want to try to reduce as much anxiety as possible."While a lot of the learning
responsibility will fall on the student, parent or guardian, USD 428 teachers
will be available to assist learning via phone, email, and even video
conference.
The weekly paper/pencil lessons will be available to be picked up at the
beginning of the week during the free lunch pickup times at school sites from
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"The main pickup for the packets will be during the lunch time," Thexton said. "If a parent cannot make that time frame, we will make sure we get those packets to them even if we have to drop it in mail."
USD 428 sent out surveys to all district families to determine what their needs
are to make this continued learning work which begins March 30."We will make the accommodations to help kids get the information they need for this plan."Hear the entire interview with Thexton and Assistant Superintendent John Popp from this week's edition of Room 428 that aired on 1590 KVGB &amp; 95.5 FM March 24.<div><iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/782336725&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false&visual=true"></iframe></div>

USD 428 Superintendent: ‘School districts are not known to pivot that fast, but somehow we are’

NEW YORK (AP) — A loss of smell or taste might be an early sign of infection with the pandemic virus, say medical experts who cite reports from several countries.

It might even serve as a useful screening tool, they say.

The idea of a virus infection reducing sense of smell is not new. Respiratory viral infection is a common cause of loss of smell, because inflammation can interfere with airflow and the ability to detect odors. The sense of smell usually returns when the infection resolves, but in a small percentage of cases, smell loss can persist after other symptoms disappear. In some cases, it is permanent.

Now, there’s “good evidence” from South Korea, China and Italy for loss or impairment of smell in infected people, says a joint&nbsp;<a href="https://www.entuk.org/sites/default/files/files/Loss%20of%20sense%20of%20smell%20as%20marker%20of%20COVID.pdf">statement&nbsp;</a>from the presidents of the British Rhinological Society and of ENT UK, a British group that represents ear, nose and throat doctors. In South Korea, some 30% of people who tested positive for the virus have cited loss of smell as their major complaint in otherwise mild cases, they wrote.

So that might be useful as a way to spot infected people without other symptoms — fever, coughing and shortness of breath — of the new coronavirus, they wrote.

A similar&nbsp;<a href="https://www.entnet.org/content/coronavirus-disease-2019-resources">proposal&nbsp;</a>was published Sunday by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. It noted “rapidly accumulating” anecdotal evidence from around the world that the pandemic virus can cause not only loss of smell but also a diminished sense of taste. So the appearance of those symptoms in people without another explanation should alert doctors to the possibility of a COVID-19 infection, the group said.

Maria Van Kerkhove, an outbreak expert at the World Health Organization, told reporters Monday that the U.N. health agency is looking into the question of whether the loss of smell or taste are a defining feature of the disease.

Dr. Eric Holbrook, an expert on nasal and sinus disease at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital in Boston, said the reports have been a hot topic among researchers and doctors. But “we don’t have hard evidence right now” about how often smell loss occurs in people infected with the pandemic virus, he said in an interview Monday.

Holbrook said the reports he has seen suggest the sense of smell returns within a couple weeks, but how long it lasts has yet to be firmly established.

He also said it’s difficult to assess reports of a loss of taste because people with an impaired sense of smell often report a loss of flavor, which is technically different from an impairment in taste.

Holbrook said he is trying to set up a study of smell in people being tested for the coronavirus at Boston-area hospitals.

NEW YORK (AP) — A loss of smell or taste might be an early sign of infection with the pandemic virus, say medical experts who cite reports from several countries.It might even serve as a useful screening tool, they say.The idea of a virus infection reducing sense of smell is not new. Respiratory viral infection is a common cause of loss of smell, because inflammation can interfere with airflow and the ability to detect odors. The sense of smell usually returns when the infection resolves, but in a small percentage of cases, smell loss can persist after other symptoms disappear. In some cases, it is permanent.Now, there’s “good evidence” from South Korea, China and Italy for loss or impairment of smell in infected people, says a joint&nbsp;<a href="https://www.entuk.org/sites/default/files/files/Loss%20of%20sense%20of%20smell%20as%20marker%20of%20COVID.pdf">statement&nbsp;</a>from the presidents of the British Rhinological Society and of ENT UK, a British group that represents ear, nose and throat doctors. In South Korea, some 30% of people who tested positive for the virus have cited loss of smell as their major complaint in otherwise mild cases, they wrote.So that might be useful as a way to spot infected people without other symptoms — fever, coughing and shortness of breath — of the new coronavirus, they wrote.A similar&nbsp;<a href="https://www.entnet.org/content/coronavirus-disease-2019-resources">proposal&nbsp;</a>was published Sunday by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. It noted “rapidly accumulating” anecdotal evidence from around the world that the pandemic virus can cause not only loss of smell but also a diminished sense of taste. So the appearance of those symptoms in people without another explanation should alert doctors to the possibility of a COVID-19 infection, the group said.Maria Van Kerkhove, an outbreak expert at the World Health Organization, told reporters Monday that the U.N. health agency is looking into the question of whether the loss of smell or taste are a defining feature of the disease.Dr. Eric Holbrook, an expert on nasal and sinus disease at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital in Boston, said the reports have been a hot topic among researchers and doctors. But “we don’t have hard evidence right now” about how often smell loss occurs in people infected with the pandemic virus, he said in an interview Monday.Holbrook said the reports he has seen suggest the sense of smell returns within a couple weeks, but how long it lasts has yet to be firmly established.He also said it’s difficult to assess reports of a loss of taste because people with an impaired sense of smell often report a loss of flavor, which is technically different from an impairment in taste.Holbrook said he is trying to set up a study of smell in people being tested for the coronavirus at Boston-area hospitals.

Loss of smell, taste, might signal pandemic virus infection

WASHINGTON (AP) —President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is hoping the United States will be reopened by Easter as he weighs how to relax nationwide social-distancing guidelines to put some workers back on the job during the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump's optimism contradicted the warnings of some public health officials who called for stricter — not looser — restrictions on public interactions. But federal officials suggested that advisories could be loosened in areas not experiencing widespread infection.

With lives and the economy hanging in the balance, Trump said he was already looking toward easing the advisories that have sidelined workers, shuttered schools and led to a widespread economic slowdown.

“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.

“Wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full?" Trump said in a subsequent interview. “You'll have packed churches all over our country.”

And as scientists warned the worst is yet to come — with hospital systems tested beyond their capacity and health workers sidelined by exposure — Trump addressed the nation, saying he was beginning "to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Trump's comments came even as White House officials urged people who have left New York City amid the outbreak to self-quarantine for 14 days after their departure, owing to the widespread rate of infection in the metro area. It also follows on the president encouraging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass a roughly $2 trillion stimulus package — estimated at roughly $6 trillion once the Federal Reserve's actions are included — to ease the financial pain for Americans and hard-hit industries.

Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction — staying home from work and isolating themselves — the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread.

The U.S. is now more than a week into an unprecedented 15-day effort to encourage all Americans to drastically scale back their public activities. The guidelines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are voluntary, but many state and local leaders have issued mandatory restrictions in line with, or even tighter than, those issued by the CDC.

On Monday, the U.S. saw its biggest jump yet in the death toll from the virus, with more than 650 American deaths now attributed to COVID-19. Trump's comments come after dire warnings by officials in hard-hit areas. New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state's hospital system will soon hit a breaking point — resulting in avoidable deaths — even with the restrictions already in place.

“I gave it two weeks," Trump said during the town hall from the Rose Garden. He argued that tens of thousands of Americans die each year from the seasonal flu and in automobile accidents and “we don't turn the country off.”

When the 15-day period ends next Monday, he said, “We'll assess at that time and we'll give it some more time if we need a little more time, but we need to open this country up." He added, “We have to go back to work, much sooner than people thought.”

Trump's Easter target was not immediately embraced by Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House task force, who indicated any move would have to be guided by data still being collected. She suggested that public health professionals could recommend a general easing, while pushing for local restrictions to remain in the hardest-hit areas.

Trump acknowledged that some want the guidance to continue, but claimed without providing evidence that keeping the guidance in place would lead to deaths from suicide and depression.

“This cure is worse than the problem,” Trump said.

During a press briefing Tuesday evening, Trump said public health officials and economists were “working to develop a sophisticated plan to open the economy as soon as the time is right — based on the best science, the best modeling and the best medical research there is anywhere on earth.”

Trump's enthusiasm for getting people back to work comes as he takes stock of the political toll the outbreak is taking. It sets up a potential conflict with medical professionals, including many within his government, who have called for more social restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, not fewer.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, did not appear at the virtual town hall, but Trump denied there were any tensions between the two men.

“I will be guided very much by Dr. Fauci and Deborah,” Trump said.

At the press briefing later, Fauci said, “No one is going to want to tone down anything when you see what is going on in a place like New York City." But he suggested he would be willing to examine the potential for easing the CDC advisories in areas that have been less affected by the outbreak.

Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, told reporters Tuesday that “public health includes economic health."

“That’s the key point. And it’s not either-or. It’s not either-or, and that’s why we’re taking a fresh look at it,” he said.

During a private conference call with roughly 30 conservative leaders on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence reinforced Trump’s eagerness to lift coronavirus-related work and travel restrictions “in a matter of weeks, not months.”

When pressed on a specific timeline for lifting restrictions, Pence said there would be no formal decisions made until the current 15-day period of social distancing was complete, according to a conference call participant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the private discussion.

Pence told the group that accommodations would need to be made for the highest-risk populations if and when restrictions begin to be lifted.

Despite Trump's rosy talk, other elements of the government were digging in for the long haul. Top defense and military leaders on Tuesday warned department personnel that the virus problems could extend for eight to 10 weeks, or even into the summer.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Defense Department town hall meeting that restrictions could go into late May or June, possibly even July. He said there are a variety of models from other countries, so the exact length of the virus and necessary restrictions are not yet clear.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585080396708.png" alt="President Trump and members of the Coronavirus Task Force answered questions during a Tuesday Fox News virtual town hall -image courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>President Trump and members of the Coronavirus Task Force answered questions during a Tuesday Fox News virtual town hall -image courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is hoping the United States will be reopened by Easter as he weighs how to relax nationwide social-distancing guidelines to put some workers back on the job during the coronavirus outbreak.Trump's optimism contradicted the warnings of some public health officials who called for stricter — not looser — restrictions on public interactions. But federal officials suggested that advisories could be loosened in areas not experiencing widespread infection.With lives and the economy hanging in the balance, Trump said he was already looking toward easing the advisories that have sidelined workers, shuttered schools and led to a widespread economic slowdown.“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.“Wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full?" Trump said in a subsequent interview. “You'll have packed churches all over our country.”And as scientists warned the worst is yet to come — with hospital systems tested beyond their capacity and health workers sidelined by exposure — Trump addressed the nation, saying he was beginning "to see the light at the end of the tunnel."Trump's comments came even as White House officials urged people who have left New York City amid the outbreak to self-quarantine for 14 days after their departure, owing to the widespread rate of infection in the metro area. It also follows on the president encouraging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass a roughly $2 trillion stimulus package — estimated at roughly $6 trillion once the Federal Reserve's actions are included — to ease the financial pain for Americans and hard-hit industries.Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction — staying home from work and isolating themselves — the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread.The U.S. is now more than a week into an unprecedented 15-day effort to encourage all Americans to drastically scale back their public activities. The guidelines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are voluntary, but many state and local leaders have issued mandatory restrictions in line with, or even tighter than, those issued by the CDC.On Monday, the U.S. saw its biggest jump yet in the death toll from the virus, with more than 650 American deaths now attributed to COVID-19. Trump's comments come after dire warnings by officials in hard-hit areas. New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state's hospital system will soon hit a breaking point — resulting in avoidable deaths — even with the restrictions already in place.“I gave it two weeks," Trump said during the town hall from the Rose Garden. He argued that tens of thousands of Americans die each year from the seasonal flu and in automobile accidents and “we don't turn the country off.”When the 15-day period ends next Monday, he said, “We'll assess at that time and we'll give it some more time if we need a little more time, but we need to open this country up." He added, “We have to go back to work, much sooner than people thought.”Trump's Easter target was not immediately embraced by Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House task force, who indicated any move would have to be guided by data still being collected. She suggested that public health professionals could recommend a general easing, while pushing for local restrictions to remain in the hardest-hit areas.Trump acknowledged that some want the guidance to continue, but claimed without providing evidence that keeping the guidance in place would lead to deaths from suicide and depression.“This cure is worse than the problem,” Trump said.During a press briefing Tuesday evening, Trump said public health officials and economists were “working to develop a sophisticated plan to open the economy as soon as the time is right — based on the best science, the best modeling and the best medical research there is anywhere on earth.”Trump's enthusiasm for getting people back to work comes as he takes stock of the political toll the outbreak is taking. It sets up a potential conflict with medical professionals, including many within his government, who have called for more social restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, not fewer.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, did not appear at the virtual town hall, but Trump denied there were any tensions between the two men.“I will be guided very much by Dr. Fauci and Deborah,” Trump said.At the press briefing later, Fauci said, “No one is going to want to tone down anything when you see what is going on in a place like New York City." But he suggested he would be willing to examine the potential for easing the CDC advisories in areas that have been less affected by the outbreak.Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, told reporters Tuesday that “public health includes economic health."“That’s the key point. And it’s not either-or. It’s not either-or, and that’s why we’re taking a fresh look at it,” he said.During a private conference call with roughly 30 conservative leaders on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence reinforced Trump’s eagerness to lift coronavirus-related work and travel restrictions “in a matter of weeks, not months.”When pressed on a specific timeline for lifting restrictions, Pence said there would be no formal decisions made until the current 15-day period of social distancing was complete, according to a conference call participant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the private discussion.Pence told the group that accommodations would need to be made for the highest-risk populations if and when restrictions begin to be lifted.Despite Trump's rosy talk, other elements of the government were digging in for the long haul. Top defense and military leaders on Tuesday warned department personnel that the virus problems could extend for eight to 10 weeks, or even into the summer.Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Defense Department town hall meeting that restrictions could go into late May or June, possibly even July. He said there are a variety of models from other countries, so the exact length of the virus and necessary restrictions are not yet clear.——

Trump hoping to see US economy reopened by Easter amid virus

From The 10th Street Eyecare Center &amp; Russell Eyecare Center...

As promised in our last procedure update, we are committed to keeping our patients informed on our plans to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Starting Wednesday, March 25th and until further notice, in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, we will be contacting patients to reschedule all non-emergency appointments. Our offices will be closed to the general public to adhere to these recommendations, including our optical departments. This decision was not made lightly, but takes into the consideration the safety and welfare of our patients, staff, doctors, and the community at large.

We will continue to provide vision-saving treatment for our patients with urgent medical issues. Each office will be staffed with at least one doctor and a few support staff to handle emergency cases that may arise, including but not limited to:

· Sudden loss of vision or decrease in vision

· Broken or lost glasses without a back-up pair

Great Bend’s office will be staffed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to deal with such emergencies. Russell’s office will be open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be no evening or weekend hours available until further notice. If you have any questions concerning medication refills or ordering contact lenses, we will have staff available over the phone. We can be reached at 620-792-2020 (Great Bend) or 785-483-2451 (Russell). Contact lenses can be mailed to patients that need them urgently.

Outside of these hours, we also have a strong partnership with a 24/7 answering service that can take evening and weekend messages and relay those to our medical staff as needed. Both optical departments will remain closed during this time, and any glasses ordered prior to March 24th will be available for pick-up once the office re-opens to the public.

We value the care and safety of all our patients and staff, and thank you for your understanding during this challenging time. These actions will also help preserve personal protective equipment and patient care supplies. As new information develops, we will continue to monitor the situation and will re-open to the public as soon as it is safe to do so. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Doctors and Staff of The 10th Street Eyecare Center and Russell Eyecare Center

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585081914468.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>From The 10th Street Eyecare Center &amp; Russell Eyecare Center...To our valued patients,As promised in our last procedure update, we are committed to keeping our patients informed on our plans to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Starting Wednesday, March 25th and until further notice, in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, we will be contacting patients to reschedule all non-emergency appointments. Our offices will be closed to the general public to adhere to these recommendations, including our optical departments. This decision was not made lightly, but takes into the consideration the safety and welfare of our patients, staff, doctors, and the community at large.We will continue to provide vision-saving treatment for our patients with urgent medical issues. Each office will be staffed with at least one doctor and a few support staff to handle emergency cases that may arise, including but not limited to:· Sudden loss of vision or decrease in vision· Flashes and/or floaters· Red eye or painful eye· Injury or trauma· Broken or lost glasses without a back-up pairGreat Bend’s office will be staffed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to deal with such emergencies. Russell’s office will be open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be no evening or weekend hours available until further notice. If you have any questions concerning medication refills or ordering contact lenses, we will have staff available over the phone. We can be reached at 620-792-2020 (Great Bend) or 785-483-2451 (Russell). Contact lenses can be mailed to patients that need them urgently.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585081947459.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Outside of these hours, we also have a strong partnership with a 24/7 answering service that can take evening and weekend messages and relay those to our medical staff as needed. Both optical departments will remain closed during this time, and any glasses ordered prior to March 24th will be available for pick-up once the office re-opens to the public.We value the care and safety of all our patients and staff, and thank you for your understanding during this challenging time. These actions will also help preserve personal protective equipment and patient care supplies. As new information develops, we will continue to monitor the situation and will re-open to the public as soon as it is safe to do so. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.Sincerely,Doctors and Staff of The 10th Street Eyecare Center and Russell Eyecare Center

Eyecare centers in Great Bend & Russell temporarily close; still available for emergency cases

Lumpy's Bar & Grill closes until further notice

Charlie's Place bar closes until further notice

Wheatland Cafe closes restaurant for now; opening up food truck



Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kansas Test Results released by the Kansas
Department of Health and Environment. (Updated March 24)

98 total positive cases
 2 deaths
 2,086 negative cases

Positive Cases by County
 Johnson County – 36
 Wyandotte – 22
 Sedgwick – 7
 Leavenworth – 7
 Douglas – 6
 Butler – 3
 5 counties with 2 cases (Cherokee, Linn, Lyon, Morris, Reno)
 7 counties with 1 case (Bourbon, Doniphan, Franklin, Jackson, Mitchell,
Pottawatomie, Woodson)

Demographics of Positive Cases
 57 male
 41 female


Age range of patients is 7 to 90 years of age, with a median of 52

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kansas Test Results released by the Kansas
Department of Health and Environment. (Updated March 24)
98 total positive cases
 2 deaths
 2,086 negative cases

Positive Cases by County
 Johnson County – 36
 Wyandotte – 22
 Sedgwick – 7
 Leavenworth – 7
 Douglas – 6
 Butler – 3
 5 counties with 2 cases (Cherokee, Linn, Lyon, Morris, Reno)
 7 counties with 1 case (Bourbon, Doniphan, Franklin, Jackson, Mitchell,
Pottawatomie, Woodson)

Demographics of Positive Cases
 57 male
 41 female

Age range of patients is 7 to 90 years of age, with a median of 52

98 coronavirus cases in Kansas range from age 7 to 90 

Coronavirus patients in Kansas range in age from 7 to 90

Hoisington closes utility billing office; other payment options available

Club 1 Fitness in Great Bend decides to temporarily close its doors

WASHINGTON (AP) — A series of missteps at the nation’s top public health agency caused a critical shortage of reliable laboratory tests for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak">the coronavirus</a>, hobbling the federal response as the pandemic spread across the country like wildfire, an Associated Press review found.

President Donald Trump assured Americans early this month that the COVID-19 test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “perfect” and that “anyone who wants a test can get a test.” But more than two months after the first U.S. case of the new disease was confirmed, many people still cannot get tested.

In the critical month of February, as the virus began taking root in the U.S. population, CDC data shows government labs processed 352 COVID-19 tests — an average of only a dozen per day.

“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said at a recent briefing. “We cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected.”

The Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the CDC, has begun an internal review to assess its own mistakes. But outside observers and federal health officials have pointed to four primary issues that together hampered the national response — the early decision not to use the test adopted by the World Health Organization, flaws with the more complex test developed by the CDC, government guidelines restricting who could be tested and delays in engaging the private sector to ramp up testing capacity.

Combined with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/67a9a72531ca2e332bea9225cec2fda5">messaging from the White House minimizing the disease</a>, that fueled a lackluster response that missed chances to slow the spread of the virus, they said.

“There were many, many opportunities not to end up where we are,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the director of the Global Health Institute at Harvard, told the AP. “Basically, they took this as business as usual. ... And that’s because the messaging from the White House was ‘this is not a big deal, this is no worse than the flu.’ So that message basically created no sense of urgency within the FDA or the CDC to fix it.”

Even as private labs have been cleared by government regulators to process tens of thousands of additional tests in the last two weeks, experts warn that the nation is still falling well short of enough testing capacity to keep ahead of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak">the highly contagious virus</a>. And it can often take a week just to get results back.

Trump last week rated his administration’s response to the crisis as a perfect 10. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/432a37435f28015e8b45eeff710cd254">Dr. Anthony Fauci</a>, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the CDC’s system wasn’t designed to test for and track a widespread outbreak, which he characterized as “a failing.”

In interviews with the AP, two federal health officials with direct knowledge of the situation said CDC experts don’t know why many of the agency’s test kits failed to reliably detect the virus. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about what went wrong.

J. Stephen Morrison, a health policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, called the testing issues a “debacle,” contributing to what he described as a confused and delayed federal response to the crisis.

As a result, he said, the CDC has now been marginalized within the White House — a worrisome development.

“CDC has generally been regarded as the best in the game,” Morrison said. “I don’t think they anticipated the technical difficulty or the speed with which the virus has been moving. The virus was racing out ahead of them.”

On New Year’s Eve, Chinese scientists informed the World Health Organization about a cluster of 27 pneumonia cases of unknown cause in the industrial megalopolis of Wuhan that they linked to the city’s wholesale fish market. Less than two weeks later, the Chinese had sequenced the virus’ genetic makeup and shared it with the world.

Within days, German scientists had developed a test that could identify a unique part of the virus’ DNA. The WHO quickly adopted the German test,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/protocol-v2-1.pdf?sfvrsn=a9ef618c_2" target="_blank">publishing technical guidelines</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 17 and working with private companies to produce testing kits.

As they have done with some past outbreaks, officials at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta decided to develop their own test, focusing on three gene targets distinct from what the WHO used. Over the decades, the headquarters lab had built a track record of being among the first to develop tests for new diseases and quickly making them available for disease tracking.

The CDC published the technical details for its COVID-19 test on Jan. 28, 10 days after the WHO. By then, the virus had already been in the U.S. for at least two weeks.

The 35-year-old man who would become the first American to test positive had arrived in Seattle on Jan. 15, following a trip to Wuhan. After swabs from his nose and throat were flown to the CDC lab, federal officials announced the results Jan. 21.

In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/22/trump-on-coronavirus-from-china-we-have-it-totally-under-control.html" target="_blank">an interview on CNBC</a>&nbsp;the following day, the Republican president was asked about the risk to the nation.

“We have it totally under control,” he said. “It’s one person coming in from China. ... It’s going to be just fine.”

With limited capacity at the CDC lab in Atlanta, the agency placed strict criteria on who could be tested: people with fevers, coughing or difficulty breathing who had also visited Wuhan within the preceding two weeks or who had close contact with someone already confirmed or under investigation for having the virus.

On Jan. 30, the day the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency, Trump again assured the American people that the virus was “very well under control.”

Then he departed for a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where he&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1223640662689689602?s=20" target="_blank">tweeted a photo of himself playing golf</a>&nbsp;at his club in West Palm Beach.

“Getting a little exercise this morning!” the president wrote.

The following day, the U.S. declared its own emergency. Still, U.S. citizens returning from China who did not have a fever weren’t tested for the virus but were encouraged to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.

At that point, the CDC had confirmed just eight cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. The agency amended its testing criteria to include people with fevers who had traveled to China, rather than just Wuhan.

Four days after the U.S. declared a state of emergency, only 178 patients had been tested and 82 others were listed as “pending,” meaning they were awaiting final results, according to CDC data released at the time.

To help increase the number of people being screened, the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for CDC-certified labs run by state health departments to begin processing swabs, and they were provided with kits that could test 250 patients.

As the first tests were processed at the state labs, technicians reported getting inconclusive results, which the CDC has said could be due to the test looking for signs of generic coronaviruses, of which there are many, rather than the specific virus that causes COVID-19.

Whatever the reason, by mid-February, only about a half-dozen state and local public health labs had reliable tests. But still, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield continued to insist his agency had developed “a very accurate test.”

“We found that, in some of the states, it didn’t work,” Redfield&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/" target="_blank">said earlier this month</a>. “We figured out why. I don’t consider that a fault. I consider that doing quality control. I consider that success.”

The testing problems emerged just as the CDC broadened its criteria to include patients who were “severely ill” with COVID-19 symptoms “even if a known source of exposure has not been identified.”

As more sick people sought to be tested, many states were forced to limit access because of the flawed CDC test. Accounts began to emerge through social media of people with all the symptoms of COVID-19 who either couldn’t get tested or had test results delayed by days or even a week.

“I know of doctor friends of mine who have critically ill patients in the ICU, and we don’t know if they have COVID or not because we can’t get a test,” Jha said last week.

On Feb. 24, exasperated officials at the Association of Public Health Laboratories sent a letter to the FDA, basically asking permission for state labs to develop their own tests. Within days, the FDA reversed its previous position and said both public and private labs could conduct testing.

Trump continued to insist the virus would die out on its own. “One day, it’s like a miracle. It will disappear,” he predicted Feb. 27.

By then, experts say, the opportunity to halt the relentless spread of the virus within the U.S. population had been lost.

On Feb. 29, only 472 patients had been tested nationwide, with just 22 cases confirmed, according to CDC data. Of those, nine cases were not related to travel but had spread person-to-person within the U.S.

By comparison, South Korea had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Jan. 20, the same day as the U.S. Officials there used a test that focused on the same gene targets as the WHO test, according to the website of a test manufacturer. They then quickly permitted private-sector labs to run the samples. As a result, a nation with less than one-sixth the population of the U.S. mobilized to test more than 20,000 people a day.

South Korea also instituted drive-thru centers, allowing quicker identification of those who were infected but might not be displaying symptoms, thus slowing the emergence of new cases to a more manageable level.

Meanwhile, the rate of U.S. infections soared.

“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/76b0f255426ad655a26e927062e1fef9">Fauci conceded during a congressional hearing</a>&nbsp;earlier this month. “That is a failing. Let’s admit it.”

As public outrage over the lack of available U.S. tests grew, the FDA announced it would allow private diagnostic lab companies to produce new tests without preauthorization from regulators.

Trump and HHS Secretary Alex Azar&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/" target="_blank">visited the CDC lab</a>&nbsp;in Atlanta on March 6, praising the agency’s performance and promising 4 million test kits would be available by the end of the following week.

That lofty number didn’t match the ability of U.S. labs to process tests, however. Private providers were just then ramping up, while CDC and state health labs processed about 25,200 COVID-19 tests in the following seven days, according to CDC data.

At the same news conference, Trump said he wanted infected passengers to remain on a cruise ship off the West Coast to keep the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. low.

“I like the numbers being where they are,” Trump said, shortly before departing Atlanta for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9fP7XNHPWI/?utm_source=ig_embed" target="_blank">another weekend of golf in Florida</a>. “I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.”

Trump has also attempted to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f4cd4c72e896d7fbd8ebd3516e864550">mislay blame</a>&nbsp;for the testing troubles on the Obama administration. In 2018, Trump disbanded the White House directorate charged with preparing for and responding to global pandemics.

“I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump replied when asked about the testing shortfall in a March 13 briefing at the White House.

Morrison said Trump appears to see the virus as a political issue rather than a public health threat.

“You can imagine a White House that said, ‘Do whatever it takes to test everybody for the virus,’” he said. “That wasn’t the mentality. It was the opposite mentality, and ultimately the responsibility to protect the American people lies with the White House.”

Trump and other officials have falsely said they declined to use the WHO test because it isn’t reliable.

“Quality testing for our American people is paramount to us,” Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the U.S. coronavirus response, said last week. “It doesn’t help to put out a test where 50% or 47% are false positives.”

“It was a bad test,” Trump chimed in.

Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesman, told the AP last week that his agency had shipped 1.5 million testing kits manufactured in Germany to 120 countries around the globe, with no such problems emerging.

“The test has been validated in three external laboratories, adapted by WHO and manufactured in line with international quality standards,” he said. “It has shown consistently good performance in laboratory and clinical use, and neither a significant number of false-positive nor false-negative results have been reported.”

Over the past two weeks, U.S. testing capacity has surged, with private companies joining in. LabCorp began providing tests March 5, and Quest Diagnostics followed four days later. Tests also are being conducted at hospitals and other centers.

With the increased testing has come a skyrocketing number of confirmed cases, zooming from 43 at the beginning of March to 33,404 by Monday.

Only in the last few days has the United States finally begun testing more people each day than far smaller South Korea, according to data complied by Johns Hopkins University.

Jha estimates the U.S. should be testing 100,000 to 150,000 people per day — figures he said should be obtainable given the number of high-quality diagnostic labs in the country.

“We certainly have the capacity. It’s just we’re not doing it,” Jha said Thursday. “We are up to about 40,000 tests per day now — and so we are moving in the right direction. Still far from where we need to be, but moving.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584219029698.png" alt="Photo courtesy Missouri Department of Health and&nbsp; Senior Services" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Missouri Department of Health and&nbsp; Senior Services</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A series of missteps at the nation’s top public health agency caused a critical shortage of reliable laboratory tests for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak">the coronavirus</a>, hobbling the federal response as the pandemic spread across the country like wildfire, an Associated Press review found.President Donald Trump assured Americans early this month that the COVID-19 test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “perfect” and that “anyone who wants a test can get a test.” But more than two months after the first U.S. case of the new disease was confirmed, many people still cannot get tested.In the critical month of February, as the virus began taking root in the U.S. population, CDC data shows government labs processed 352 COVID-19 tests — an average of only a dozen per day.“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said at a recent briefing. “We cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected.”The Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the CDC, has begun an internal review to assess its own mistakes. But outside observers and federal health officials have pointed to four primary issues that together hampered the national response — the early decision not to use the test adopted by the World Health Organization, flaws with the more complex test developed by the CDC, government guidelines restricting who could be tested and delays in engaging the private sector to ramp up testing capacity.Combined with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/67a9a72531ca2e332bea9225cec2fda5">messaging from the White House minimizing the disease</a>, that fueled a lackluster response that missed chances to slow the spread of the virus, they said.“There were many, many opportunities not to end up where we are,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the director of the Global Health Institute at Harvard, told the AP. “Basically, they took this as business as usual. ... And that’s because the messaging from the White House was ‘this is not a big deal, this is no worse than the flu.’ So that message basically created no sense of urgency within the FDA or the CDC to fix it.”Even as private labs have been cleared by government regulators to process tens of thousands of additional tests in the last two weeks, experts warn that the nation is still falling well short of enough testing capacity to keep ahead of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak">the highly contagious virus</a>. And it can often take a week just to get results back.Trump last week rated his administration’s response to the crisis as a perfect 10. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/432a37435f28015e8b45eeff710cd254">Dr. Anthony Fauci</a>, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the CDC’s system wasn’t designed to test for and track a widespread outbreak, which he characterized as “a failing.”In interviews with the AP, two federal health officials with direct knowledge of the situation said CDC experts don’t know why many of the agency’s test kits failed to reliably detect the virus. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about what went wrong.J. Stephen Morrison, a health policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, called the testing issues a “debacle,” contributing to what he described as a confused and delayed federal response to the crisis.As a result, he said, the CDC has now been marginalized within the White House — a worrisome development.“CDC has generally been regarded as the best in the game,” Morrison said. “I don’t think they anticipated the technical difficulty or the speed with which the virus has been moving. The virus was racing out ahead of them.”___FATEFUL DECISIONSOn New Year’s Eve, Chinese scientists informed the World Health Organization about a cluster of 27 pneumonia cases of unknown cause in the industrial megalopolis of Wuhan that they linked to the city’s wholesale fish market. Less than two weeks later, the Chinese had sequenced the virus’ genetic makeup and shared it with the world.Within days, German scientists had developed a test that could identify a unique part of the virus’ DNA. The WHO quickly adopted the German test,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/protocol-v2-1.pdf?sfvrsn=a9ef618c_2" target="_blank">publishing technical guidelines</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 17 and working with private companies to produce testing kits.As they have done with some past outbreaks, officials at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta decided to develop their own test, focusing on three gene targets distinct from what the WHO used. Over the decades, the headquarters lab had built a track record of being among the first to develop tests for new diseases and quickly making them available for disease tracking.The CDC published the technical details for its COVID-19 test on Jan. 28, 10 days after the WHO. By then, the virus had already been in the U.S. for at least two weeks.The 35-year-old man who would become the first American to test positive had arrived in Seattle on Jan. 15, following a trip to Wuhan. After swabs from his nose and throat were flown to the CDC lab, federal officials announced the results Jan. 21.In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/22/trump-on-coronavirus-from-china-we-have-it-totally-under-control.html" target="_blank">an interview on CNBC</a>&nbsp;the following day, the Republican president was asked about the risk to the nation.“We have it totally under control,” he said. “It’s one person coming in from China. ... It’s going to be just fine.”With limited capacity at the CDC lab in Atlanta, the agency placed strict criteria on who could be tested: people with fevers, coughing or difficulty breathing who had also visited Wuhan within the preceding two weeks or who had close contact with someone already confirmed or under investigation for having the virus.On Jan. 30, the day the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency, Trump again assured the American people that the virus was “very well under control.”Then he departed for a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where he&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1223640662689689602?s=20" target="_blank">tweeted a photo of himself playing golf</a>&nbsp;at his club in West Palm Beach.“Getting a little exercise this morning!” the president wrote.The following day, the U.S. declared its own emergency. Still, U.S. citizens returning from China who did not have a fever weren’t tested for the virus but were encouraged to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.At that point, the CDC had confirmed just eight cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. The agency amended its testing criteria to include people with fevers who had traveled to China, rather than just Wuhan.___FLAWED TEST KITSFour days after the U.S. declared a state of emergency, only 178 patients had been tested and 82 others were listed as “pending,” meaning they were awaiting final results, according to CDC data released at the time.To help increase the number of people being screened, the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for CDC-certified labs run by state health departments to begin processing swabs, and they were provided with kits that could test 250 patients.As the first tests were processed at the state labs, technicians reported getting inconclusive results, which the CDC has said could be due to the test looking for signs of generic coronaviruses, of which there are many, rather than the specific virus that causes COVID-19.Whatever the reason, by mid-February, only about a half-dozen state and local public health labs had reliable tests. But still, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield continued to insist his agency had developed “a very accurate test.”“We found that, in some of the states, it didn’t work,” Redfield&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/" target="_blank">said earlier this month</a>. “We figured out why. I don’t consider that a fault. I consider that doing quality control. I consider that success.”The testing problems emerged just as the CDC broadened its criteria to include patients who were “severely ill” with COVID-19 symptoms “even if a known source of exposure has not been identified.”As more sick people sought to be tested, many states were forced to limit access because of the flawed CDC test. Accounts began to emerge through social media of people with all the symptoms of COVID-19 who either couldn’t get tested or had test results delayed by days or even a week.“I know of doctor friends of mine who have critically ill patients in the ICU, and we don’t know if they have COVID or not because we can’t get a test,” Jha said last week.___COMMUNITY TRANSMISSIONOn Feb. 24, exasperated officials at the Association of Public Health Laboratories sent a letter to the FDA, basically asking permission for state labs to develop their own tests. Within days, the FDA reversed its previous position and said both public and private labs could conduct testing.Trump continued to insist the virus would die out on its own. “One day, it’s like a miracle. It will disappear,” he predicted Feb. 27.By then, experts say, the opportunity to halt the relentless spread of the virus within the U.S. population had been lost.On Feb. 29, only 472 patients had been tested nationwide, with just 22 cases confirmed, according to CDC data. Of those, nine cases were not related to travel but had spread person-to-person within the U.S.By comparison, South Korea had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Jan. 20, the same day as the U.S. Officials there used a test that focused on the same gene targets as the WHO test, according to the website of a test manufacturer. They then quickly permitted private-sector labs to run the samples. As a result, a nation with less than one-sixth the population of the U.S. mobilized to test more than 20,000 people a day.South Korea also instituted drive-thru centers, allowing quicker identification of those who were infected but might not be displaying symptoms, thus slowing the emergence of new cases to a more manageable level.Meanwhile, the rate of U.S. infections soared.“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/76b0f255426ad655a26e927062e1fef9">Fauci conceded during a congressional hearing</a>&nbsp;earlier this month. “That is a failing. Let’s admit it.”___SHIFTING BLAMEAs public outrage over the lack of available U.S. tests grew, the FDA announced it would allow private diagnostic lab companies to produce new tests without preauthorization from regulators.Trump and HHS Secretary Alex Azar&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/" target="_blank">visited the CDC lab</a>&nbsp;in Atlanta on March 6, praising the agency’s performance and promising 4 million test kits would be available by the end of the following week.That lofty number didn’t match the ability of U.S. labs to process tests, however. Private providers were just then ramping up, while CDC and state health labs processed about 25,200 COVID-19 tests in the following seven days, according to CDC data.At the same news conference, Trump said he wanted infected passengers to remain on a cruise ship off the West Coast to keep the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. low.“I like the numbers being where they are,” Trump said, shortly before departing Atlanta for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9fP7XNHPWI/?utm_source=ig_embed" target="_blank">another weekend of golf in Florida</a>. “I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.”Trump has also attempted to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f4cd4c72e896d7fbd8ebd3516e864550">mislay blame</a>&nbsp;for the testing troubles on the Obama administration. In 2018, Trump disbanded the White House directorate charged with preparing for and responding to global pandemics.“I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump replied when asked about the testing shortfall in a March 13 briefing at the White House.Morrison said Trump appears to see the virus as a political issue rather than a public health threat.“You can imagine a White House that said, ‘Do whatever it takes to test everybody for the virus,’” he said. “That wasn’t the mentality. It was the opposite mentality, and ultimately the responsibility to protect the American people lies with the White House.”Trump and other officials have falsely said they declined to use the WHO test because it isn’t reliable.“Quality testing for our American people is paramount to us,” Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the U.S. coronavirus response, said last week. “It doesn’t help to put out a test where 50% or 47% are false positives.”“It was a bad test,” Trump chimed in.Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesman, told the AP last week that his agency had shipped 1.5 million testing kits manufactured in Germany to 120 countries around the globe, with no such problems emerging.“The test has been validated in three external laboratories, adapted by WHO and manufactured in line with international quality standards,” he said. “It has shown consistently good performance in laboratory and clinical use, and neither a significant number of false-positive nor false-negative results have been reported.”Over the past two weeks, U.S. testing capacity has surged, with private companies joining in. LabCorp began providing tests March 5, and Quest Diagnostics followed four days later. Tests also are being conducted at hospitals and other centers.With the increased testing has come a skyrocketing number of confirmed cases, zooming from 43 at the beginning of March to 33,404 by Monday.Only in the last few days has the United States finally begun testing more people each day than far smaller South Korea, according to data complied by Johns Hopkins University.Jha estimates the U.S. should be testing 100,000 to 150,000 people per day — figures he said should be obtainable given the number of high-quality diagnostic labs in the country.“We certainly have the capacity. It’s just we’re not doing it,” Jha said Thursday. “We are up to about 40,000 tests per day now — and so we are moving in the right direction. Still far from where we need to be, but moving.”___

Testing blunders crippled US response as coronavirus spread

Teachers and students have shown each other support with the announcement of all school buildings being closed the rest of the semester. Check out these gestures from Great Bend schools and students of staying in touch during the closure...

Teachers and students have shown each other support with the announcement of all school buildings being closed the rest of the semester. Check out these gestures from Great Bend schools and students of staying in touch during the closure...<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585144927241.jpeg" alt="Holy Family Elementary" />
 <figcaption>Holy Family Elementary</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585077723554.jpeg" alt="Eisenhower Elementary School" />
 <figcaption>Eisenhower Elementary School</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585077768249.jpeg" alt="Jefferson Elementary School" />
 <figcaption>Jefferson Elementary School</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585077790065.jpeg" alt="Riley Elementary School" />
 <figcaption>Riley Elementary School</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585077819681.jpeg" alt="Park Elementary School" />
 <figcaption>Park Elementary School</figcaption>
 </figure>

Great Bend teachers and students staying connected, showing support

Be part of the bear hunt in Great Bend!

DICKINSON COUNTY —In an effort to deal with COVID-19, a Stay-at-Home order has been issued for Dickinson County residents, effective at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, according to local Health Officer, Dr. Brian Holmes, and remains in effect until further notice.

On Tuesday morning, Sedgwick County joined other Kansas counties and issued a stay-at-home order for their 500,000-plus residents to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The emergency order is scheduled to begin on Wednesday and last 30-days. 

<a href="https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/media/56915/covid-19-order-for-stay-at-home.pdf">Click here to read a draft of the order.</a>

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty/videos/1089722544723589/">Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;Tuesday's Sedgwick County Coronavirus briefing.

Sedgwick County commission chair Pete Meitzner said during a Tuesday coronavirus press conference that Dr. Garold Minns, the county's health director had signed the stay-at-home order. Commissioners voted 3-2 approving the draft order during an emergency meeting Monday.

There are 4 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Sedgwick County, according to the KDHE.

On Monday, Gov. Laura Kelly announced that she will tighten restrictions on public gatherings and issue an executive order Tuesday to ban public gatherings of more than 10 people.

Kelly said she is not yet issuing a statewide shelter-in-place order as governors have done in some other states, including California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York, because 89 of Kansas' 105 counties had yet to see a confirmed coronavirus case as of Monday morning. But she warned that such an order could become “unavoidable in the coming days.”

Dr. Lee Norman, the state's health secretary, said Monday he expects Kansas to have between 300 and 400 confirmed cases by the end of March.

The Sedgwick County coronavirus hotline&nbsp; (316) 660-9000 or go to stayathomefaq@sedgeick.gov&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585067404157.png" alt="Sedgwick County Commission chair Pete Meitzner spoke during Tuesday's announcement." />
 <figcaption>Sedgwick County Commission chair Pete Meitzner spoke during Tuesday's announcement.</figcaption>
 </figure>DICKINSON COUNTY —In an effort to deal with COVID-19, a Stay-at-Home order has been issued for Dickinson County residents, effective at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, according to local Health Officer, Dr. Brian Holmes, and remains in effect until further notice.On Tuesday morning, Sedgwick County joined other Kansas counties and issued a stay-at-home order for their 500,000-plus residents to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The emergency order is scheduled to begin on Wednesday and last 30-days. <a href="https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/media/56915/covid-19-order-for-stay-at-home.pdf">Click here to read a draft of the order.</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty/videos/1089722544723589/">Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;Tuesday's Sedgwick County Coronavirus briefing.Sedgwick County commission chair Pete Meitzner said during a Tuesday coronavirus press conference that Dr. Garold Minns, the county's health director had signed the stay-at-home order. Commissioners voted 3-2 approving the draft order during an emergency meeting Monday.There are 4 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Sedgwick County, according to the KDHE.On Monday, Gov. Laura Kelly announced that she will tighten restrictions on public gatherings and issue an executive order Tuesday to ban public gatherings of more than 10 people.Kelly said she is not yet issuing a statewide shelter-in-place order as governors have done in some other states, including California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York, because 89 of Kansas' 105 counties had yet to see a confirmed coronavirus case as of Monday morning. But she warned that such an order could become “unavoidable in the coming days.”Dr. Lee Norman, the state's health secretary, said Monday he expects Kansas to have between 300 and 400 confirmed cases by the end of March.The Sedgwick County coronavirus hotline&nbsp; (316) 660-9000 or go to stayathomefaq@sedgeick.gov&nbsp;

 Sedgwick and Dickinson Counties issue stay-at-home orders

Great Bend veterinary uses curbside service

Did you miss the Room 428 show this week?

Here’s the interview from the March 24, 2020 show with Cole Reif talking to USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton and Assistant Superintendent John Popp regarding what the district's continued learning approach looks like.&nbsp;

Room 428 airs Tuesday mornings at 11:30 a.m. on 1590 KVGB &amp; 95.5 FM and&nbsp;greatbendpost.com&nbsp;during the school year. The show highlights different activities and guests from around the Great Bend school district.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582070747164.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Did you miss the Room 428 show this week?Here’s the interview from the March 24, 2020 show with Cole Reif talking to USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton and Assistant Superintendent John Popp regarding what the district's continued learning approach looks like.&nbsp;<div><iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/782336725&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false&visual=true"></iframe></div>Room 428 airs Tuesday mornings at 11:30 a.m. on 1590 KVGB &amp; 95.5 FM and&nbsp;greatbendpost.com&nbsp;during the school year. The show highlights different activities and guests from around the Great Bend school district.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Room 428: Interview on what 'continued learning' looks like in Great Bend

Inadequate supplies of protective masks, ventilators, intensive care beds and other medical resources are forcing mass closures and restrictions on everyday activities. Public officials are rushing to slow the virus so America's medical system is not overwhelmed.

Hospitals and healthcare providers do not have enough enough of the critical supplies needed to protect doctors and nurses from the coronavirus.

Lindsey Bogner, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at Ellinwood District Hospital, says that shortage is being felt in Barton County as well.

"There are millions of supplies and caches around the United States," said Bogner. "Unfortunately, since we have not seen a lot of those cases, we are pretty low on the totem poll to get those supplies."

Bogner says while the Ellinwood Hospital is okay for the time being, it would not take long for those supplies to be drawn down.

"We need Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for our staff, and I know that is across the board for hospitals," Bogner said. "We still have those orders out to see if they can be fulfilled."

The public's hoarding tendencies made an impact on the supply shortage at hospitals.

"Some of those supplies were designed to bought in the public," said Bogner. "Everybody came in and bought those supplies in the stores, so now the stores can not supply the hospitals."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585059986398.jpeg" alt="Ellinwood District Hospital" />
 <figcaption>Ellinwood District Hospital</figcaption>
 </figure>By COLE REIF Great Bend PostInadequate supplies of protective masks, ventilators, intensive care beds and other medical resources are forcing mass closures and restrictions on everyday activities. Public officials are rushing to slow the virus so America's medical system is not overwhelmed.Hospitals and healthcare providers do not have enough enough of the critical supplies needed to protect doctors and nurses from the coronavirus.Lindsey Bogner, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at Ellinwood District Hospital, says that shortage is being felt in Barton County as well."There are millions of supplies and caches around the United States," said Bogner. "Unfortunately, since we have not seen a lot of those cases, we are pretty low on the totem poll to get those supplies."Bogner says while the Ellinwood Hospital is okay for the time being, it would not take long for those supplies to be drawn down."We need Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for our staff, and I know that is across the board for hospitals," Bogner said. "We still have those orders out to see if they can be fulfilled."The public's hoarding tendencies made an impact on the supply shortage at hospitals."Some of those supplies were designed to bought in the public," said Bogner. "Everybody came in and bought those supplies in the stores, so now the stores can not supply the hospitals."

Local hospitals looking for essential supplies; public hoarding had impact

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed until 2021. The International Olympic Committee along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organizers have decided that the Tokyo Games cannot go ahead as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. The games were scheduled to begin July 24.

<a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/joint-statement-from-the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-tokyo-2020-organising-committee">Click here to read the joint statement</a> from IOC and Tokyo organizing committee.

The IOC says the games will be held “not later than summer 2021” but they will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed until 2021. The International Olympic Committee along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organizers have decided that the Tokyo Games cannot go ahead as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. The games were scheduled to begin July 24.<a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/joint-statement-from-the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-tokyo-2020-organising-committee">Click here to read the joint statement</a> from IOC and Tokyo organizing committee.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">After his telephone talks with IOC President Bach, PM Abe spoke to the press and explained that the two have agreed that the Tokyo Olympic Games would not be cancelled, and the games will be held by the summer of 2021. <a href="https://t.co/ihe8To2g3R">pic.twitter.com/ihe8To2g3R</a>&mdash; PM&#39;s Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/JPN_PMO/status/1242428276464812033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The IOC says the games will be held “not later than summer 2021” but they will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">To safeguard the health of the athletes and everyone involved in the Tokyo 2020 Games. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will now take place no later than summer 2021.&mdash; #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tokyo2020/status/1242440149310435328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>--------TOKYO&nbsp;(AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach has agreed “100%” to a proposal of postponing the Tokyo Olympics for about one year until 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday.Abe said after his telephone talks with Bach that he requested a postponement of about one year “taking into consideration the current circumstances” and to secure an environment in which athletes can perform in their best conditions and the sense of safety and security for the audience.Abe held telephone talks with Bach after the IOC said it would make a decision on the Tokyo Games over the next four weeks.---------

Coronavirus Update