By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., joined the daily press briefing with doctors from the University of Kansas Health Systems in Kansas City on Friday to discuss Congress's latest COVID-19 aid package.
The package includes additional funds for the Payroll Protection Program, which is aimed at helping small businesses affected by the outbreak as well as additional funds for hospitals and COVID-19 testing.
Prior to the replenishment, Kansas businesses had received $4.28 billion in 27,000 loans. This is estimated to have retained 427,000 jobs in the state, Moran said.
The legislation that was passed by the House Thursday will add $310 billion to the PPP fund.
The legislation also includes $75 billion that will be allocated to hospitals and $25 billion more directed toward testing.
"Health care and citizens are interested in why we are not doing more testing," Moran said. "A piece of good news from this legislation is that $21 million is immediately available to Kansas to increase testing and to accomplish the goal of broader testing in Kansas."
Moran said he thought the PPP program should be available to all hospitals. County, city and district hospitals have not been able to access the funds.
Testing important to reopening the economy
Even with the infusion of funds for testing, Moran said he thought the allocation was still insufficient to cover all needed testing.
He also noted the funds will not improve Kansas' low testing rate if the state can't get the tests.
Moran has been speaking remotely with Kansas hospital administrators who said they will need tests available for patients who are coming into hospitals before they can start opening again for elective procedures.
Those tests need to be able to be processed in moments or at least hours compared to days.
The bill also includes $14 billion aimed at developing a vaccine that would replace the need for testing over time, Moran said.
Testing will become even more important as society begins to reopen, said Dr. Steve Stites, University of Kansas Health Systems pulmonologist and chief medical officer.
If someone becomes sick, they need to determine if that person has COVID-19 and then trace their contacts so those people who have been exposed can shelter in place.
Stites said the outbreak surrounding meatpacking plants in western Kansas is an example of how the virus can be spread among densely compacted people. This could be a work or social setting.
"If you are congregated together in close quarters and one person gets sick, everybody gets sick," Stites said. "The only way to intervene with that is to do testing early and often."
Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, has requested 400 volunteers to help with contact tracing in the state.
The University of Kansas Health Systems has volunteered 50 workers who normally would be working in areas of elective procedures to help in this effort.
Fourth-year medical students, who have graduated early, have also volunteered to do contact tracing.
Social distancing will continue to be important
"We know that social distancing has worked," Stites said. "We know we have an advantage because we are less dense. ...
"As we open up, while testing is critically important, personal, social responsibility has never been more important. You can shelter at home, which is a great way to achieve social distancing, but you can socially distance at work."
Stites said maintaining social distancing even after the state begins to reopen will be an enormous help.
"Yes, we need more testing. That is a federal, state, local and health system responsibility," Stites said, "but social distancing is a personal responsibility. That is something we are all going to have to be a part of, as we have been so far, which has bent the darn curve."
Doctors leery of home tests
Walmart began rolling out self-administered COVID-19 tests in the Kansas City area on Friday.
Stites and Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at the University of Kansas Health System, said they were both leery of the accuracy of home testing.
If the test is not administered correctly, then the test could produce an inaccurate result, the doctors said.
Stites said when using a nasal swab, it has to be pushed far into the nasal cavity, which can be very uncomfortable. Health professionals have been trained to administer nasal swabs correctly.
Antibody test kits are not available commercially. Stites said not to believe anyone who says they have one at this time.
Moran says no bankruptcy for states
Moran was asked if he supported a change that would allow states to declare bankruptcy.
Moran said he is still interested in helping cities and counties that are struggling with funding issues as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
However, he said he did not support taxpayers supporting governments that had made poor decisions before the crisis.
"If we can look at history," he said, "I am interested at looking at recent circumstances. I don't want Kansas taxpayers bailing out states that have had poor fiscal decisions, lived beyond their means and then want somebody else to solve that problem."
Moran added the federal government does not have the means to keep spending. The government has already spent $3 trillion in response to COVID-19.
"The best way to get relief to people beyond health care, is an economy that is working," he said, "that people are back to work and are capable of taking care of themselves and paying taxes. That requires a healthy country to get there, so the focus on health care is important."
Ag aid
Moran was also asked about an effort by he and other members of Congress to eliminate limits on aid on commodities and livestock.
The CARES Act Phase Three provided $19 billion in aid to farmers. Moran and others insisted livestock be covered, which is unusual in most farm programs.
However, the COVID-19 crisis is affecting producers' abilities to have their animals processed. This can ultimately decrease the revenue producers can receive for those animals.
Previous payment limitations on what any individual could receive per commodity would not have covered losses for most livestock producers, Moran said.
Commodity aid limits also affect speciality crop producers, as well as dairy farmers.