All Kansas City counties are at heightened COVID community levels with hospitals strained
COVID-19 cases continued to climb in Kansas City this week as hospitalizations dropped slightly.
The CDC has raised the “community levels” of all but one county in the Kansas City area to “medium,” indicating that precautions like masking and maintaining good ventilation are recommended.
This week’s slight case increase comes as experts warn that the city is experiencing a “triple-demic” of COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Hospitals are struggling to meet the demand of high patient numbers amid staff shortages.
Here’s the latest COVID-19 data in the Kansas City area.
What are the COVID-19 risk levels in the Kansas City area?
Clay, Platte, Jackson and Johnson Counties have all risen to a “medium” community level of COVID-19, joining Wyandotte County. Community levels are calculated using hospital admission data and hospital bed occupancy.
This classification means that 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 remains one step lower at a “substantial” transmission level. 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.
What does Kansas City’s COVID-19 data look like this week?
Officials reported a total of 1,705 new cases of COVID-19 in the Kansas City area over the past week, up from 1,643 the previous week. That gives the metro a 7-day average of around 244 new cases per day, compared to around 233 per day a week earlier.
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. Johnson County reported three new deaths since last week, while Wyandotte County reported none. That brings the Kansas City metro area’s death total up to at least 4,419 since the pandemic began.
How are hospitals holding up?
The University of Kansas Health System is treating 38 patients with active COVID-19 infections, down from 45 last week. Seven of these patients are in the ICU with two on ventilators, compared to five ICU patients and none on ventilators last week.
“(Patient) numbers are holding steady,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health System in a Tuesday news briefing. “Hopefully we can keep them under 40 and see if and when we do reach a peak, and then go down from there.”
MARC hospitalization data shows that the greater Kansas City area is now seeing an average of 76 new hospitalizations per day, down from 97 per day 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 Kansas City’s defense against the most active COVID-19 variants are the new bivalent booster shots, which are available at clinics around the metro. These boosters offer protection from both the original COVID-19 and several strains of the omicron variant.
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 65.61% of the population fully vaccinated in the Kansas City region. Eastern Kansas has a higher vaccination rate, at 74.92%, than western Missouri does at 58.67%.
Do you have more questions about staying safe from COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask our Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
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