COVID cases remain steady around Kansas City as hospitalizations go up slightly
Cases are no longer falling in the Kansas City area, with numbers staying relatively steady over the past few weeks. Hospitalizations are up slightly around the metro, with death counts still very low.
“Based on the CDC case data, we know that cases are really plateaued right now,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, in a Monday news briefing. “They have been at a steady level for the past couple of weeks, so hopefully we can get our active cases going down.”
Here’s the latest on COVID-19 data in the Kansas City area.
What does Kansas City’s COVID-19 data look like this week?
Officials reported a total of 1,412 new cases of COVID-19 since the most recent data was recorded. The state of Missouri switched its reporting schedule last week to begin releasing new seven-day case data on Tuesdays. The 1,412 cases are a combination of the new cases in the past seven days on the Missouri side of the metro, plus the new cases recorded since Friday, Oct. 21 on the Kansas side.
In Missouri, it appears that seven-day numbers are up slightly in most jurisdictions since the previous seven-day total. However, this may be due to the change in the data reporting timeline.
Since many people are taking COVID tests at home, which aren’t publicly recorded, experts say real case totals are likely anywhere from two to five times higher than what data shows.
The state of Missouri is no longer reporting death counts at the county level. Neither Johnson nor Wyandotte County reported any new deaths since our last update. That means the Kansas City metro area’s death total remains at least 4,402 since the pandemic began.
How are hospitals holding up?
The University of Kansas Health System is treating 20 patients with active COVID-19 infections, up from 18 on Friday, Oct. 14, when we published our last data update. Five of these patients are in the ICU and one is on a ventilator, up from one ICU patient who was not on a ventilator during the previous update.
“We’re unfortunately just hanging around those same numbers – really high teens and low 20s,” Hawkinson said in a Tuesday news briefing. “Hopefully we’ll continue to stay there or go down, but we know there’s those possible other viral surges that are going on as well.”
MARC hospitalization data shows that the greater Kansas City area is now seeing an average of 74 new hospitalizations per day, an increase of around 9% compared to last week. Hospitalization trends usually follow several weeks behind case numbers, although current case numbers may not accurately reflect the full extent of the virus due to home testing.
How vaccinated is the Kansas City area?
Part of our defense against the most active COVID-19 variants are the new bivalent booster shots that are available at clinics around the metro. These boosters offer protection from both the original COVID-19 and several strains of the omicron variant. A recent Star report found that only around 4% of eligible patients in the metro have gotten the new booster.
Anyone who has received an initial COVID-19 vaccination, including children as young as five years old, can now get one of these new shots. They’re available at local health departments, clinics and pharmacies around the metro.
Overall vaccination rates in the metro are rising slowly, with 64.82% of the population fully vaccinated in the Kansas City region. Eastern Kansas has a higher vaccination rate, at 73.89%, than western Missouri does at 58.07%.
What are the COVID-19 risk levels in the Kansas City area?
Clay, Platte, Jackson and Johnson Counties have all remained at a “low” community level of COVID-19. This indicates the medical care is readily available for COVID-19 patients.
Wyandotte County is still at a “medium” community level. That means the CDC recommends maintaining good ventilation, getting up to date on your vaccines and boosters, and wearing a mask if you are immunocompromised or indoors with someone who is.
All the counties that make up the Kansas City metro area remain at “high” transmission levels, except for Wyandotte County, which lowered to “substantial” two weeks ago. Both these rankings mean that your risk of catching COVID-19 in public is still elevated, even though medical care may be easier to access than before.
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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