One-on-one with Dr. Lee Norman

We sat down with Dr. Norman to ask him all things COVID-19 related.

Including reopening schools, rising case numbers and testing.

WE'RE COMMITTED TOHELPING FAMILIESREBOUND IN KANSASCITY...AND FOR MANY.... THATMEANS PREPARING TO GOBACK TO SCHOOL.IN A ONE ON ONEINTERVIEW -- THE TOPDOCTOR IN KANSAS SAIDTHE PROBLEM ISN'TNECESARILY RESUMINGIN-CLASS ACTIVITIES...IT'S INCREASEDCOMMUNITY SPREAD, ANDPEOPLE NOT FOLLOWINGCDC GUIDELINES.BUT HE SAYS... THERE ISHOPE.THE TOP HEALTH OFFICIALIN THE STATE OF KANSAS,WITH MORE THAN 40YEARS EXPERIENCE.HE'S ALSO A MILITARYVETERAN - FIGHTINGTHIS WAR WITH DATA, ASTETHOSCOPE AND AMASK INSTEAD OF A FLAKJACKET.I just come back in 2018 from amiddle east deploymentI started in 2017 and said wellI'mdeploying to topekand rthe battle rythym neverenAS WE MARCH TOWARDSLOWING THE SPREAD OFCOVID 19, DR NORMAN SATWITH ME TO DISCUSSSCHOOLS REOPENING.MASS GATHERINGS -AND TO SEPARATE FACTFROM FICTION:YOU LOOK AT ALL THEMANDATES, THAT WE STAYAWAY FROM BARS, THATWE STAY AWAY FROMMASS GATHERINGSEVEN PRISONERS AND PEOPLEFROM JAIL ARE TRYING TO COMEOUT EARLY DUE TO COVID19,YET WE ARE GOING TO STARTSCHOOL IN CLASS, IN SESSIONSOONBREAK DOWNT HE LOGIC TO MEWITH THATyeah, it's a tough onewe do need to get kids back toschool or at least back to beingeducatedwev'e learned schools are aboutsomuch more than teaching andlearning, it's the fabric of oursocietyit's nutrition, socialization,mentalhealthso it's a delicate balanceBUT the practices being put inplace, what I mean engineeringadjustments, where are desks,wehreare charis, how is air handled,howclose how far,askis or no masks,allthose things owrkthe problem is people don'tpractithose measures with greatregularity"LET'S SUPPOSE A CLASSMATEOR EVEN A TEACHER IN THATCLASSROOM TESTS POSITIVEFOR THAT MATTER.

A LOT OFPARENTS ARECONCERNED..WHAT SHOULDTHEY DO, WHAT SHOULD THEYKNOW?if somebody tests positive forit, it'sthe obligation that the parentsknowwhat's going onNORMAN SAYS IT IS THEDISTRICT'SRESPONSIBILITY TONOTIFY ANYONE WHO'SCOME INTO CONTACT WITHANYONE WHO TESTSPOSITIVE.EARLIER IN THISPANDEMIC, DR. NORMAN'SADULT SON TESTEDPOSITIVE FOR COVID 19.HOW'S YOUR SON BY THEWAY?he's well, matter of fact it'shis birthday today..

He gotover it was really sick for 15dfays with it, but he's veryyoung and resillient and didwell..this has touched my family tooSUPPOSE YOU WERE THEPARENTS OF SMALLSCHOOL AGED CHILDRENRIGHT NOW..WOULD YOUFEEL SAFE SENDING THEMBACK TO SCHOOL?I think I would if I saw theplan, and could engage in thedialouge with tachers andadministration and can go kickthe tires on the placeand say yeah this makes sense tomeA PLAN EACH DISTRICT ISCOMPRISING AS WESPEAK.DR. NORMAN SAYS IF WEARE DEVOTED TOFOLLOWING CDCGUIDELINES FOR JUST 28DAYS - IT WOULD MAKE AWORLD OF DIFFERENCE...ALTHOUGH THOSEGUIDELINES HAVECHANGED:vice admiral jerome adams, ourussurgeon general..himselfasthmaticand a very brittle asthmatic asa kid,has come out very stronglysupporting use of masksCLEAR THIS UP FOR MEBECAUSE IN MARCHJEROME ADAMS SAID THEEXACT OPPOSITEA LOT OF LEADERS SAID THEEXACT OPPOSITE..WE DONT'NEED MASKS NOW...right..

It was a confusingmessage early on.I think a couple of things...onethereweren't enough masks and anybodywearing a mask really not at thehighest risk was reallydeprivingsomebody in a medical setting,firstresponders, etcwe didn't know how wildlyinfectiousthis is, you see those sneezing videosandeverything, pretty dramatic.."TESTING IS UP NATIONWIDE,LIKE 40 PERCENT..

A LOT OFPEOPLE THINK CASE COUNTSARE UP BECAUSE TESTING ISUP..BREAK THAT DOWN FOR ME.It seems logical, but it's nottrue andtrhe reason is...wiuth theincrease intesting..if the number ofpositivecases leveled off or dropping,thenteh percentage of positive testswould drop down to a very lownumber, but as we're doing moretesting thepercentage of positive testingisgoing upwe get smarter every day, but wedon't know everything about thisvirusWE OFTEN HEAR MEDICALEXPERTS TALK ABOUT ASECOND WAVE OF COVID19 IN THE FALL.DR. NORMAN SAYS IT'SIMPORTANT TO NOTE,THERE COULD ALSO BE ATHIRD AND FOURTH WAVE,AND SO ON.A LOT OF IT DEPENDS ONWEARING A MASK, SOCIALDISTANCING AND APOSSIBLE VACCI