COVID numbers are slightly up around KC. Here’s what experts say about a new surge
COVID-19 infection numbers are rising once again in the Kansas City area, but hospitals have yet to see an influx of sick patients.
Johnson County health officials reported an increase in BA.2 cases on Thursday. The Star has previously reported that this strain is unlikely to cause a “wave” as large as previous variants.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Dana Hawkinson said in a Friday news briefing that recent BA.2 cases may be caused by more group gatherings and fewer COVID-19 precautions in recent weeks.
However, he noted that it’s difficult to tell exactly how and where cases are rising given the recent declines in the number of people testing and also how testing is reported, with more people taking at-home tests and not reporting those results to the government.
A more immediate metric of COVID-19’s prevalence is wastewater—and viral counts are remaining steadily low.
“BA.2 has been the dominant lineage in Missouri for weeks already, it’s almost the only thing we’re seeing,” said Dr. Marc Johnson, who runs The University of Missouri’s wastewater sequencing lab, during Friday’s briefing.. “So far, at least, there has been no correlation between the prevalence of BA.2 and the case numbers.”
Experts said that we don’t yet have enough information to determine whether the slight increases in local case numbers signal a new COVID-19 “surge” that residents should be worried about.
How are local COVID-19 numbers looking?
Officials reported a total of 654 new cases in the Kansas City area over the past week. That’s higher than last week’s total of 496 new cases. The past week saw an average of 93 cases per day in the metro area, while last week’s average was 71 cases per day over seven days.
The state of Missouri has reported 17 new COVID deaths in the past 12 days. These deaths did not necessarily occur in the counties that comprise the Kansas City metro area. Johnson County reported three deaths in the last week, while Wyandotte County reported one. That’s a total of at least four new deaths in Kansas City, bringing the local total up to at least 4,276.
New data reporting that deemphasizes daily case numbers and death totals by county has changed the way The Star provides COVID-19 updates. This is because both Kansas and Missouri are treating COVID-19 as “endemic” now. Here’s what that means for you.
How are hospitals holding up?
The University of Kansas Health System is currently treating five patients with active COVID-19 infections. It was treating nine at this time last week. One of these patients is in the ICU, and is on a ventilator.
The hospital recently announced that it will stop giving COVID tests to all incoming patients and instead test only those who think they are infected or are symptomatic. Hawkinson said that this change may impact the daily health system COVID numbers.
“Moving forward, it is going to be very difficult to tell what kind of capacity issues we’re having, and what kind of impact the surge [has] on cases and hospitalizations,” he said in Friday’s news briefing. “Not everyone is getting tested at those sites that report to the government– some people are not even testing, some may be doing home testing.”
Hospitals in the Kansas City area are not yet seeing a significant influx of COVID-19 patients, but experts are staying vigilant in case a new “wave” arrives.
How vaccinated is the Kansas City area?
Vaccination rates in the area are rising slowly, with 61.4% of the population fully vaccinated in the Kansas City region. Eastern Kansas has a higher vaccination rate, at 69.26%, than western Missouri does at 55.54%.
Getting vaccinated is still the most effective way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, and experts recommend using increased caution if you are not yet vaccinated.
Do you have more questions about staying safe from COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask our Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
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