KU Doc Admits Using COVID Fear Amid Frustration & Anger

The local health pros are breaking down as they admit that fear is a big part of their messaging amid today's hope to shut down schools . . .

We've highlighted the important part of this passage that deserves consideration and debate from locals on the receiving end of this dire message . . . Given that newsies stopped asking critical questions long ago.

“This is a dangerous moment,” Steve Stites, chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, said during a briefing Tuesday. “You want to keep schools open? How are you going to do that if everybody is sick? If all your staff are out? If all your kids are sick? How are you going to do that? … If we don’t take the rules of infection control seriously, this curve will bend us. It’s already bending your hospitals right now.”

Stites delivered a stark message on Tuesday as children head back to their schools, many of which no longer have mask mandates. COVID-19 cases were rising before the winter break, with some Kansas City area schools reporting higher infection rates than ever before.

The KU system, one of the largest area hospitals, has more than 500 employees out on temporary leave due to COVID-19. The hospital employs more than 13,500 people.

“We’re at a critical juncture,” Stites said. “Today, I’m going to come with a combination of fear, maybe a touch of anger, and a whole lot of frustration.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link to paywall content . . .

'Dangerous moment': Officials question how KC schools can stay open amid COVID surge

As students return to class this week, Kansas City area health and education officials warn that schools will have a hard time remaining open amid rising COVID-19 cases, staffing shortages and weakened mitigation protocols. "This is a dangerous moment," Steve Stites, chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, said during a briefing Tuesday.