A KSD Zoom meeting discussing the impact of COVID-19 on spring sports was held Wednesday, April 22. This discussion touched on concerns held by some of the KSD community, including shifts regarding summer and fall programming. TKC reached out to Dr. Michael Havener, KHS principal, and Corey Nesslage, athletics director, to learn more regarding any changes.

As of April 27, summer camp registration is closed. Administration still hopes to have summer camps, but this depends on safety concerns. There has also been discussion surrounding the idea of  possibly holding a game between WGHS and KHS teams to play one last time, but it is not sure what teams this may apply to. According to Havener, this idea is not definite, and not enough conversations have occurred with Webster or the Board of Education to confirm this will happen. 

Decisions regarding seniors playing in the summer are indefinite, and largely depend on the stay-at-home order. The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is working to change rules regarding summer limits on sports. If some sort of summer activity is held, it is up to each sport teams’ discretion. KHS administration is not certain of how many, if any, spring sports at KHS will offer a summer activity option. However, according to Havener, MSHSAA insurance does not offer catastrophic insurance for the seniors, which covers injuries. If seniors were to play, Havener wants to make sure athletes are not over-exerting themselves, and therefore does not find it fair to expect to play more than 20 days in each sport. 

Fall eligibility has also been brought into discussion. According to Havener, he wants students to finish strong, and is not focusing on the possibility of failure. The eligibility requirements by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for current seniors intending to play at a college level have been altered, but everyone else is held to the previous standard. 

Governor Mike Parson announced Monday, April 27 that the state of Missouri would begin an initiative to reopen the regional economy, citing decreasing coronavirus statistics. He described Phase 1 of reopening the state economy. This includes hospitals, churches, sporting events, and restaurants. The first phase will last from Monday, May 4 until May 31.

In the latest example of US officials holding China accountable for the coronavirus, the state of Missouri has filed a civil lawsuit against the communist nation.

The state became the first to do so on Tuesday, April 21. The lawsuit alleges that the People’s Republic of China did not provide sufficient warning or details to help the U.S. fight against the deadly virus, instead suppressing information from both the general public and the United States government.

“In this case, the State of Missouri seeks recovery for the enormous loss of life, human suffering, and economic turmoil experienced by all Missourians from the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted the entire world,” the lawsuit said. “An appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction by Chinese authorities unleashed this pandemic.”

On Wednesday, April 22, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Greg Shuang called the claim “absurd” and said the lawsuit has “no factual and legal basis at all.” Despite the disregard by the Chinese government, Mississippi announced it would also file a lawsuit against Beijing under similar rationale. It remains unclear if other states will follow suit.

According to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, there are currently 7,171 cases of COVID-19 and 288 COVID-19-related deaths in Missouri. The statistics are updated every day at 2 p.m., CT.

Promising 2 trillion dollars in aid to businesses and workers, the stimulus package went out on April 6. Some feel that the bailout meant to help mom and pop stores instead disproportionately helped big businesses, causing some public controversy. Companies such as Shake Shack responded to the public’s outcry by promising to return the 10 million dollars they received from the bailout back to the government funding which ran out in the first two weeks. 

As unemployment rates have risen to an estimated 13 percent this April, many states, such as Georgia and South Carolina, are discussing opportunities to reopen their economies  which has come with concern that this is being done prematurely. With unemployment taking a toll, food pantries around the country say they are struggling to keep up, with Feeding America’s chief operating office’s Katie Fitzgerald saying there has been a 40 percent increase in demand. 

These economic developments come with new discoveries over the symptoms of the virus. he CDC said there are six newly discovered symptoms :chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell. Along with the discovery of new symptoms there has also been development with a plasma treatment that, in a study of ten patients, showed an increase in antibodies that improved recovery from the virus. 

President Trump came under fire for his statement in a White House briefing saying, “And is there a way we can do something like [using disinfectant]  by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that,” in a statement recorded by the Washington Post. Addressing the controversy, Trump has said that he was “asking a question sarcastically,” in a statement made April 24 during a bill signing in the oval office.  In a response to the recent events, Trump did not take questions in last Friday’s White House briefing. The current national coronavirus statistics have 957,875 cases and 53,922 deaths as of April 26.