COVID numbers are slightly up around KC. Here’s what experts say about a new surge

COVID-19 an infection numbers are rising as soon as once more within the Kansas Metropolis space, however hospitals have but to see an inflow of sick sufferers.

Johnson County well being officers reported a rise in BA.2 instances on Thursday. The Star has beforehand reported that this pressure is unlikely to trigger a “wave” as giant as earlier variants.

Infectious illness skilled Dr. Dana Hawkinson mentioned in a Friday information briefing that latest BA.2 instances could also be attributable to extra group gatherings and fewer COVID-19 precautions in latest weeks.

Nonetheless, he famous that it’s troublesome to inform precisely how and the place instances are rising given the latest declines within the variety of individuals testing and likewise how testing is reported, with extra individuals taking at-home assessments and never reporting these outcomes to the federal government.

A extra speedy 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 virtually the one factor we’re seeing,” mentioned Dr. Marc Johnson, who runs The College of Missouri’s wastewater sequencing lab, throughout Friday’s briefing.. “Thus far, at the least, there was no correlation between the prevalence of BA.2 and the case numbers.”

Consultants mentioned that we don’t but have sufficient data to find out whether or not the slight will increase in native case numbers sign a brand new COVID-19 “surge” that residents must be anxious about.

How are native COVID-19 numbers trying?

Officers reported a complete of 654 new instances within the Kansas Metropolis space over the previous week. That’s larger than final week’s complete of 496 new instances. The previous week noticed a mean of 93 instances per day within the metro space, whereas final week’s common was 71 instances per day over seven days.

The state of Missouri has reported 17 new COVID deaths prior to now 12 days. These deaths didn’t essentially happen within the counties that comprise the Kansas Metropolis metro space. Johnson County reported three deaths within the final week, whereas Wyandotte County reported one. That’s a complete of at the least 4 new deaths in Kansas Metropolis, bringing the native complete as much as at the least 4,276.

New knowledge reporting that deemphasizes every day case numbers and demise totals by county has modified the best way The Star gives COVID-19 updates. It is because each Kansas and Missouri are treating COVID-19 as “endemic” now. Right here’s what which means for you.

How are hospitals holding up?

The College of Kansas Well being System is at present treating 5 sufferers with energetic COVID-19 infections. It was treating 9 presently final week. One in all these sufferers is within the ICU, and is on a ventilator.

The hospital lately introduced that it’s going to cease giving COVID assessments to all incoming sufferers and as a substitute take a look at solely those that suppose they’re contaminated or are symptomatic. Hawkinson mentioned that this transformation could affect the every day well being system COVID numbers.

“Shifting ahead, it’s going to be very troublesome to inform what sort of capability points we’re having, and how much affect the surge [has] on instances and hospitalizations,” he mentioned in Friday’s information briefing. “Not everyone seems to be getting examined at these websites that report back to the federal government– some individuals are not even testing, some could also be doing residence testing.”

Hospitals within the Kansas Metropolis space should not but seeing a big inflow of COVID-19 sufferers, however specialists are staying vigilant in case a brand new “wave” arrives.

How vaccinated is the Kansas Metropolis space?

Vaccination charges within the space are rising slowly, with 61.4% of the inhabitants totally vaccinated within the Kansas Metropolis area. Japanese Kansas has a better vaccination fee, at 69.26%, than western Missouri does at 55.54%.

Getting vaccinated continues to be the simplest technique to defend your self and others from COVID-19, and specialists suggest utilizing elevated warning if you’re not but vaccinated.

Do you’ve got extra questions on staying protected from COVID-19 in Kansas Metropolis? Ask our Service Journalism group at kcq@kcstar.com.