KANSAS CITY, mo. — As the coronavirus accelerates in parts of the United States, health officials in Kansas City, Missouri, are coordinating their efforts with state and regional partners to prepare for a possible outbreak.
On Tuesday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas met with city department leaders to discuss how each department was preparing. They held a press conference after, addressing how they would monitor residents with possible symptoms.
"We would actually give them an app they could put on their phone and report their temperatures twice a day as well as symptoms," said Dr. Rex Archer, director of the city health department.
Kansas City is not alone in preparing for a possible outbreak. The state of Kansas is, too.
"It's a bit of a waiting game," said Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas Department of Health and Environment secretary. "I just think we're going to see more and more activity, week by week by week."
Kansas can now test whether an individual has the coronavirus at a facility in Topeka. Before the facility was prepared, the state had to send tests to the CDC, which took several days to get the results.
"We get [results] in four to six hours," he said. "That's a remarkably better turnaround time."
While there have been no positive cases of coronavirus in the Kansas City metro, Norman said people should still protect themselves by washing their hands and avoid touching their face, mouth and eyes.
