Originally published on December 22, 2020 5:51 am
LAWRENCE, Kansas In north Lawrence, the city set up 20 white-and-gray tents in a park to house people who are homeless.
It’s not health care, or COVID-19 tests, but federal coronavirus tax dollars are paying for the camp.
“If we put our homeless population into the shelter, there’s a higher chance that they’ll get the virus and then they’ll spread it across the community,” Douglas County Commissioner Patrick Kelly said.
The camp marks but one example of the creative ways communities are using the federal money. They scrambled to spend the cash before a deadline at the end of December, but Congress is now giving them more time. Restrictions also mean that money can’t go to some of the top priorities in local budgets.
Staff Report
Dec. 21 COVID-19 update from the health department
Douglas County reported 5,974 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, an increase of 115 cases since Friday.
In Douglas County, 5,110 out of the 5,974 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 864 cases are active.
The county has averaged about 40 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 39.86 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 77 cases per day in mid-November and up from a recent low of 17 cases per day in mid-October.
Staff Report
Dec. 18 COVID-19 update from the health department
Douglas County reported 5,859 cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, an increase of 62 cases since Thursday.
In Douglas County, 4,905 out of the 5,859 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 954 cases are active.
The county has averaged about 44 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 43.71 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 77 cases per day in mid-November and up from a recent low of 17 cases per day in mid-October.
photo by: Contributed photo
Shannon Fletcher, a respiratory therapist at LMH Health, was the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at Lawrence s hospital on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020.
A leader at Lawrence’s hospital expressed disappointment in a local health center’s decision not to transfer its incoming vaccine doses to LMH Health, a choice the leader called a “wrinkle” in the vaccine distribution process.
Heartland Community Health Center announced Friday morning that it will receive 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine when it becomes available and that the health center plans to administer the vaccines itself, in accordance with Douglas County’s tiered strategy.
photo by: Mackenzie Clark
Douglas County District Court Chief Judge James McCabria stands at the table that will be the judge s bench during jury trials and discusses new technology to be used, including lapel microphones for attorneys, at the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Dec. 18, 2020. Although the building is large, McCabria demonstrated that the sound system amplifies even soft speech. Behind the black curtain is a small table for brief bench conferences outside of the hearing of the jury.
For all intents and purposes, the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds was ready on Friday afternoon to hold jury trials, though a few finishing touches aren’t yet in place.