‘We’re probably treading water,’ KU doctor says, as not all Kansas COVID trends improve
Coronavirus trends in the Wichita area and across Kansas have mostly been improving, but health experts remain concerned by high levels of vaccine hesitancy and continued community spread.
Of new cases statewide reported Wednesday, 187 were children. Four of the new hospitalizations were children. There has been one new case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, associated with COVID-19.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported pandemic totals as of Wednesday of 313,720 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, 10,684 hospitalizations, 2,974 ICU admissions and 5,067 deaths. Sedgwick County, according to the KDHE, has had 57,226 cases, 1,833 hospitalizations, 582 ICU admissions and 761 deaths.
In the past seven days, Kansas had 1,129 new cases, 129 new hospitalizations, 38 new ICU admissions and 14 new deaths. Sedgwick County had 266 new cases, 28 new hospitalizations, nine new ICU admissions and two new deaths.
Wichita and Sedgwick County continue to experience “substantial” community spread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The county has had 11 days of downward case trajectory. The most recent report from the White House COVID-19 task force, released Tuesday but dated Friday, shows Kansas with “moderate” community transmission.
The White House and CDC data set with statistics as of Monday showed Sedgwick County with a weekly rate of 60 new cases per 100,000 people, which is in the orange zone. The 0.6 new deaths per 100,000 people is in the yellow zone. The positive test rate is back up to 5%, which is in the yellow zone.
The state as a whole has better indicators. The Kansas case rate was in the yellow zone, with 36 new cases per 100,000 people. The death rate was also in the yellow zone, with 0.7 new deaths per 100,000 people. The positive test rate was in the green zone at 3.2%.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19
The Sedgwick County Health Department’s hospital status, which shows hospitalization data from Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Healthcare as of Mondays, had not been updated as of Wednesday afternoon.
The health department numbers had shown a new wave at Wichita hospitals between early April and early May. Since then and through last week, COVID-19 patient totals and the number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs have dropped.
The White House and CDC report showed Sedgwick County hospitals had 32 confirmed COVID-19 admissions and 122 suspected COVID-19 admissions in the past week. Local hospitals have 89% of their staffed, adult ICU beds occupied, which is a red zone indicator. The statewide ICU occupancy percentage was 69%.
Hospital numbers have generally improved, which doctors have credited to vaccinations, especially among older populations and nursing home residents.
“They’re not as low as they could be, because if we had (more) people getting their vaccine, we could really drive this number down, and that’s what will make us very safe,” Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, said during a Tuesday media briefing.
Stites said it would likely take until the middle of June to see whether reopening led to increased community spread.
“We’re probably treading water, but there are signs in (the trends) that we have to be very careful with,” he said. “Overall, these numbers are still much, much, much, much, much, much lower than they were at their peak.”
COVID vaccinations
Public health experts have estimated that 70% to 85% of the entire population needs to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity, but vaccine hesitancy threatens that community protection.
“It is a disconnect,” Stites said. “I wish we had had more people vaccinated already. We have got a lot of vaccines, and it’s not going used. We have some vaccine that will expire without getting used. That’s not where we would like to be. I know there’s still too much vaccine hesitancy, I know there’s still a lot of vaccine denial, and I fear for that.”
He said people who have previously been infected should still get vaccinated, especially since their natural immunity is unlikely to be as effective against the emerging variants. Additionally, research has repeatedly shown immunity via vaccination is more effective than immunity from prior infections.
CDC numbers show fewer people in Kansas are initiating vaccinations in recent weeks than in past months. Last week’s 23,872 new first doses statewide was an 82% drop from the peak of 133,964 first doses administered the week prior to April 5.
Despite poor vaccination numbers in May, the past week was the best of the month for first doses administered.
The KDHE on Wednesday reported 1,212,530 people vaccinated with one dose, or 41.6% of the population, and 1,016,452 people have been fully vaccinated, or 34.9% of the population. In the past week, 33,531 Kansans have gotten a first shot and 30,971 more people were fully vaccinated.
The KDHE’s reported vaccination rates are lower in Sedgwick County, with 38.5% of people having at least one dose and 30.5% of residents fully vaccinated.
The CDC, which reports 30.8% of Sedgwick County residents fully vaccinated, has Sedgwick County ranked No. 60 of 105 counties in Kansas. The county has 40.7% of its adult population fully vaccinated and 64.5% of its senior citizen population fully vaccinated.
Coronavirus variants
In the most recent week of genomic sequencing in Kansas, the United Kingdom variant accounted for about 62% of cases, one of the India variants accounted for about 23%, the Brazil variant was about 8% of cases and other strains accounted for the remainder.
Data reported Monday by the CDC show the four-state region of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa has the highest proportion of the UK variant in the United States. That strain comprised 81% of tested cases in the most recent two-week period.
Kansas has now had 1,158 confirmed cases from variants across 55 counties, an increase of 151 variant cases in the past week, KDHE data from Wednesday show. Sedgwick County has the most by far with 517 confirmed variant cases, an increase of 98. The actual numbers are likely higher, as not everyone with COVID-19 gets tested, and not all COVID-19 positive tests undergo genomic sequencing to determine the strain.
The UK and Brazil strains are most dominant in Sedgwick County, with 63 new cases of the UK variant and 29 new cases of the Brazil variant reported in the past week.
Coronavirus clusters
The KDHE’s weekly cluster update on Wednesday showed 13 new outbreaks had been reported statewide. There were 10 more businesses, two nursing homes or long-term care facilities and one school with coronavirus clusters.
Meanwhile, fewer clusters are considered active, with a drop from 70 to 49. The KDHE’s list of active outbreaks identified two of those outbreaks, both of which are at long-term care facilities. Glen Carr House Memory Care in Derby has had five cases in the last two weeks, while Wheat State Manor in Butler County has had seven cases.
The state reported 14 more deaths connected to clusters in the past week. All 14 were from long-term care facility outbreaks.
In the past week, the Sedgwick County Health Department reported two new business clusters and one new outbreak at a long-term care facility.