Kansas Red Zone New Cases (7-17-20)

Kansas Red Zone New Cases (7-17-20)

Obtained and released by a non-profit shows a third of u.s. states are in the red zone for new cases one of them.kq2's madeline mcclain reports what the red zone means and what doctors are saying about kansas and missouri's covid-19 numbers.

Kansas is among 18 states in a covid-19 red zone -- according to an unpublished document prepared for the white house and obtained by the center for public integrity.steve stites: if you look at some of the states with the highest per capita right now, kansas is right, new cases per capita, kansas is right at the top of that list and missouri is not far behind.the white house classifies red zones for states with new cases as states with more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people.

Missouri is in the yellow zone.

And new cases are often the prelude to deaths and hospitalizations.dana hawkinson: our hospital stays are shorter, again they are not necessarily critically ill needing ventilators.

They are getting out of the hospital but that can still overwhelm our hospital bed capacity, that can still overwhelm our ppe capacity.

Public health experts worry people aren't taking the pandemic seriously.

Steve stites: the younger population gets sick and it spreads and it doesn't just spread to the younger population it starts spreading back to parents and grandparents.and all people regardless of age -- seem to believe only those with underlying conditions are at risk dice you shouldn't be so willing to roll.dana hawkinson: "right now we have two pediatric patients here.

Older pediatric patients in their teens but still pediatric patients.

Anecdotally last week when i was on the floors last week i had two different people in their 40s, one was really well controlled hiv and otherwise healthy requiring oxygen.

The other had no medical problems and was up in the icu cause he needed higher amounts of oxygen but then again i just had someone in their 60s and required a low amount of oxygen who didn't need any therapy but it really is a roll of the dice because we don't know how our bodies are going to react to the infection."states in the red zone are encouraged to revert to tighter protective measures -- limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer -- close bars, gyms and strongly encourage face coverings in all indoor spaces.dana hawkinson: "the virus doesn't care if it's a bar or a restaurant or a service like a funeral, or a wedding or a birthday party.

It's just the people congregating together not being physically distanced and not having masks on for both parties."and public health experts say don't wait for the government to protect you.dana hawkinson: we know how to protect ourselves.

We know that physical and social along with mask use and hand hygiene.reporting in st.

Joseph, madeline mcclain kq2 news.

The white house report also lists missouri and kansas in the "yellow zone" for positivity rate.

Confirmed covid-19