State health officials say coronavirus has likely made its debut in Kansas.
The Department of Health and Environment has announced the state’s first “presumptive-positive” case after testing sent to KDHE’s Kansas Health and Environmental Lab as approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. KDHE says the patient, a Johnson County woman under age 50, is currently in home isolation and will be treated as a positive case unless further testing determines otherwise.
KDHE is also working with health officials in Johnson County and the federal government to find others who may have been in contact with the patient so those people can be monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms.
The presumptive-positive case follows several possible cases in Kansas that all ultimately turned out negative until this point.
On Wednesday, Governor Laura Kelly announced KDHE and the Kansas Division of Emergency Management are in constant communication with local hospitals and health departments as part of a coordination effort that goes from the local to federal levels. State agencies are also stepping up emergency management plans.
Coronavirus was first noticed in Wuhan, China, and has since spread to 60 countries, including the United States — which now has nearly half the states reporting confirmed or presumptive-positive cases. Health officials say there are still several unknowns with coronavirus, including exactly how long people can be contagious.
If you have recently traveled to China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea and have developed fever with lower respiratory symptoms including cough and shortness of breath within 14 days of your travel, or have had contact with someone with a laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19, stay home and call your healthcare provider.
For more information about COVID-19, visit KDHE’s website at www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus or the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. Representatives of Newman Regional Health and Flint Hills Community Health Center will have more information about coronavirus on KVOE’s Talk of Emporia on March 13.
