Health officials concerned over COVID-19 uptick as holidays approach, mask mandates end
The rolling average of new COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City area continued to increase for the second consecutive week, raising the concerns of health officials ahead of the holidays.
The upswing in cases has health officials concerned what will happen in the coming months as mask mandates have been allowed to expire and people head indoors for the winter months and for holiday celebrations.
“When you start taking off masks and you go indoors, people are going to get sick again and we’re going to see the increasing rise of COVID-19 numbers,” said Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System. “And that’s exactly what we’re starting to see and I’m concerned.”
As of Tuesday, the seven-day average of new cases was about 326 in the region encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, according to data kept by The Star.
The average jumped up from 267 cases a week ago. A month ago, the average was 242.
A total of 207,670 residents in the metro have been infected with the virus since the pandemic began. That’s up 2,281 from 205,389 total cases reported a week ago and nearly 7,975 from 199,695 total cases reported a month ago.
To date, 3,199 people have died from COVID-19. That’s up 22 from 3,177 total deaths reported a week ago and up 161 from 3,038 total deaths reported a month ago.
During Tuesday’s Morning Medical Update, the University of Kansas Health System reported that it was treating 21 patients with the active virus, up 18 from the previous day. Seven patients were in the ICU and four were on a ventilator. Another 24 patients remained hospitalized because of COVID-19 but were out of the acute infection phase for a total of 45 COVID-19 patients.
During the University of Kansas Health System’s Morning Medical Update, Stites noted that wastewater testing in Lawrence showed coronavirus levels to be at the highest they’ve been the entire pandemic.
“That should concern us, right, because we know that the wastewater testing historically has predicted the rise in case counts,” Stites said.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, said data continues to show that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated as more than 90 percent of those who are dying are unvaccinated.
Guests on Tuesdays show included Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for Preparedness and Response with Health and Human Services, who emphasized that that the vaccines have gone through the required safety analysis that all vaccines go through.
“Even though we did it in an accelerated fashion, the development pieces, the safety pieces have followed the way they always do,” she said.
Dr. Catherine Satterwhite, HHS Region 7 administrator, urged people not to share information about COVID and the vaccines if they are not sure of its accuracy. She added that she was excited that children 5 to 11 years old can now get the vaccine and said that if children get their first shot this week, they will be fully vaccinated by Christmas.
On Tuesday, Missouri reported that it has identified 717,435 infections to date, including 12,417 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 8.6%.
About 50.4% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated.
Across state lines, Kansas has reported 449,813 infections to date, including 6,614 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 8.4%.
Statewide, 48.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Across the country, more than 47.2 million people have contracted COVID-19 and 765,127 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 3:12 PM.
