Saying their hospital is overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients — 10 percent of whom will probably die — officials of Wesley Medical Center pleaded with the Sedgwick County Commission to do much more to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus in the community. And it looks like the hospital officials may get much of what they’re asking for, with commissioners urging their health officer to draft an order with more restrictions on businesses and private gatherings. Dr. Lowell Ebersole, medical director for the Wichita area’s second-largest hospital system, presented a list of recommendations to strengthen the county response to the viral pandemic. Several echo Gov. Laura Kelly’s stay-at-home order from earlier this year, which was gutted by the state Legislature in late May and early June.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

The Wichita school district is calling for help from the city as teachers and school staff are contracting COVID-19 at an alarming pace, causing staffing shortages that could force some school buildings to close. “The District is in the process of considering closing of a number of school buildings due to a shortage of staff at those buildings,” USD 259 leaders said in a letter to the Wichita City Council on Tuesday. “If something in the community does not change soon, the District will have to consider closing additional buildings.” There are more absent teachers and paras than there are substitutes. When a school nurse misses work during the surging coronavirus pandemic, the school goes without. And the COVID situation is getting worse.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle