The early leader for word of the year has to be coronavirus.
COVID-19, as it’s officially called, has been wreaking havoc on stock and ag markets the last two to three weeks, and it’s now having a major impact on schedules across the country after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic or worldwide spread of the disease.
Both the University of Kansas and Kansas State University are now moving from in-class education to online education until further notice. Both universities will suspend in-person classes next week and then go completely to remote classwork March 23. Emporia State University says it is actively preparing for a potential impact but has not announced any action steps yet. Flint Hills Technical College has not announced any action steps at this time.
Special Olympics Kansas had already announced it was canceling most events this month, including team practices through March 23 and both sets of basketball and cheerleading competitions, including the one in Topeka this upcoming weekend and the one in Hays the following weekend.
At the national level, President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night and announced the country is suspending most incoming travel from Europe starting at midnight Friday.
Trump also ordered the Treasury Department to defer tax payments without interest or penalties, and he asked Congress to provide what he called immediate payroll tax relief.
News about the virus took a local turn when a patient at Emporia’s Stormont-Vail clinic presented symptoms consistent with the illness and was then tested, along with two patients at the hospital in Topeka. All three were listed as negative by early evening. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment had said it would not make any statements about the patients’ status until around noon Thursday. Less than an hour later, Stormont-Vail cleared the patients.
Also, after announcing it was monitoring the situation Tuesday, USD 253 Emporia said it was activating its Emergency Operations Plan on Wednesday after the World Health Organization said coronavirus had reached pandemic stage.
Shortly after the NCAA said its men’s and women’s national basketball tournaments would take place as scheduled but without fans, Central Missouri, the host of the Division II Central Regional for women’s basketball involving the Emporia State Lady Hornets, suspended ticket sales for all its games. ESU is set to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7:30 pm Friday.
The National Basketball Association also suspended the rest of its regular season after a player tested positive for COVID-19.
There are more than 126,000 confirmed cases globally with over 4,000 deaths reported. COVID-19 brings symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. Onset happens anywhere from two to 14 days after infection. Health officials are trying to develop a vaccine, although that could be months away, and they are trying to determine exactly how long patients are contagious. Health officials locally, statewide, nationally and globally are all saying the same things about reducing the spread of the disease:
*Wash hands for at least 20 seconds
*Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze
*Avoid touching your face, mouth and eyes
*Stay home when you are sick. The guideline is a full 24 hours fever-free without the help of fever-reducing medications
We’ll keep you updated on KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media. More information about coronavirus is coming from experts at Newman Regional Health and Flint Hills Community Health Center on Friday’s Talk of Emporia.
