First cases of contagious COVID variant omicron detected in Kansas City area
Two fully vaccinated residents of Wyandotte County have tested positive for the omicron variant of COVID-19, county health officials said Monday, the first confirmed cases in the Kansas City area.
The residents are between the ages of 20 and 39.
Health officials emphasized that people should protect themselves against the new, highly contagious variant, which has already been detected in both Kansas and Missouri.
“With new COVID variants like Omicron, (it) is more important than ever that we each take steps to protect ourselves and others from COVID,” said Juliann Van Liew, director of the Unified Government Public Health Department.
“Vaccinations are still the best protection against serious illness and hospitalization from COVID, and boosters are especially important to help protect against Omicron.
“We also strongly encourage people to wear masks in public indoor spaces and continue social distancing. If you will be gathering or traveling for the holidays, we recommend testing before doing so, especially for those who are unvaccinated or are experiencing any symptoms.”
COVID-19 vaccines are available for anyone 5 and older. Vaccine providers can be found at vaccines.gov.
The news comes as health officials across the metro are warning residents of a looming COVID-19 crisis that will be worse than last winter. Several sounded the alarm during the University of Kansas Health System’s daily health briefing on Friday, painting a bleak picture of what’s happening in local hospitals as COVID cases rise again locally.
Hospitalizations are spiking, pushing local medical centers to make decisions they’d rather not, such as postponing elective surgeries so they can handle COVID cases. Some cancer diagnoses have been delayed, too, because of the rise in COVID patients.
Hospital staff are exhausted and overworked. And some hospitals are left without enough beds to treat patients who don’t have COVID, such as heart attack and stroke victims.
Local health officials have said the delta variant still comprises the majority of COVID cases in Missouri and Kansas and is responsible for the wave now overtaking hospitals. But federal health officials said Monday that omicron is now the dominant version in the United States.
Omicron accounted for 73% of new infections last week, and that’s up to 90% in some areas. The delta variant had caused the majority of infections in the country since June.
The omicron variant was detected in area wastewater samples last week, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The first sample was collected Dec. 7 from the wastewater treatment facility in Little Blue Valley Sewer District, just east of of Raytown. The second, collected Dec. 8, was found in a St. Joseph wastewater treatment facility in Buchanan County, according to a DHSS release.
Earlier this month Missouri health officials reported their first presumed case of the omicron variant in a St. Louis resident who had traveled domestically.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced the state’s first case of the omicron variant last week in an adult from Franklin County southwest of Johnson County. Kansas officials said the person was fully vaccinated but had not received a booster shot.
But the message has been clear for a while now: This is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated. In both Kansas and Missouri, just over half of each state’s residents are fully vaccinated.
Early studies show two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine may not protect you against omicron infection, but can against hospitalization and death; booster shots significantly increase immunity.
Most of the people sick in the hospital and dying of COVID-19 are unvaccinated, hospital officials have reported for weeks.
“Although there is much we still need to learn about this new variant, we do know the best tool currently available to protect ourselves from COVID-19 is personal prevention,” said Donald Kauerauf, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said earlier this month when announcing the first presumed case of the omicron variant in Missouri.
“We also encourage Missourians to remain vigilant in protecting themselves and staying informed this holiday season as this new variant is investigated further,” he said in a statement.
Omicron or a cold?
Fever, cough and loss of smell or taste are known as the classic symptoms of COVID-19. But variants, including omicron, come with different symptoms that might make you think you have a cold.
A runny nose, sneezing, headache, fatigue and a sore throat were the most common, self-reported early symptoms among London residents who tested positive for both the delta and omicron variants. Some people also reported brain fog and loss of appetite.
The only way to know? You have to get tested. You can find a list of testing sites here. At-home tests are also available at some grocery stores and pharmacies.
Wyandotte County health officials say you should get tested if:
▪ You are sick, especially since symptoms can mimic the flu, a cold or allergies.
▪ .You have been exposed to COVID-19, meaning you were in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Get tested about five days after the exposure.
▪ You will be traveling soon or have recently returned from traveling — especially if you are unvaccinated.
▪ You will be attending a large gathering/event, or have recently attended a large gathering/event. Once again, especially important for the unvaccinated.
“The trick is you’re not going to be able to tell the difference between omicron, delta, lambda, plain COVID from the beginning,” Dr. Emily Landon, chief hospital epidemiologist at University of Chicago Medicine, told NBC Chicago.
“Influenza or even common rhinovirus causes most of our common colds in the winter. You’re not going to know the difference between those if you just look at your symptoms.”
“For many people, those symptoms are overlapping. You’re just not going to know especially at the beginning of an illness, what kind of illness you have. You have to get tested.”
Cases rising in Wyandotte County
The omicron cases in Wyandotte County were confirmed through the state health department’s labs over the weekend. The laboratories are screening positive COVID samples for the new variant.
The county is currently seeing an average of 82 new COVID cases a day, four times higher than numbers seen at the end of October. The positivity rate is at about 33%, more than twice the level at that time, health officials said.
About one-third of the new cases there over the last two weeks have been among children and teens ages 0-19. and about a third among adults in their 20s and 30s.
The advice for reducing the spread of COVID-19 remains the same, with the additional recommendation for getting a booster shot.
Wear a mask, regardless of your vaccination status. And when out in public, stay at least six feet from other people you don’t share a household with, especially if you are at higher risk of getting sick or have people in your life who are.
This story was originally published December 20, 2021 at 2:59 PM.
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