Twenty-two cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Wyandotte County, according to the Unified Government Health Department.
Of those, 14 cases or 64 percent are among younger residents, those under age 30, a spokesman stated.
Most Wyandotte County residents have not yet received their COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Health Department.
Health Department statistics on June 30 stated that 36.25 percent of the county’s residents had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 31.47 percent of Wyandotte County residents have completed vaccinations. Those over age 12 who have received at least one dose in Wyandotte County totaled 44.6 percent.
As recently as earlier this week, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment variant map had listed 0 cases of the Delta variant in Wyandotte County.
Janell Friesen, spokesman for the Health Department, said that doesn’t mean all 22 Delta cases were from this week. The earliest Delta cases here were in mid-May, and it was just recently that Wyandotte County was able to get them sequenced and determined that it was the Delta variant.
The Health Department recently began working with the state, in partnership with local labs, to do more genomic testing to determine if variants are present, she added. These 22 Delta cases were tested at the state lab, she added.
Friesen also said one of the Delta variant cases in Wyandotte County resulted in a death.
At this time, the Delta variant cases in Wyandotte County are not all related to each other, and are not traced back to a single source for an outbreak here, she said. That indicates there is probably community spread, she said.
While there have been Delta outbreaks reported in southern Missouri, at this time, they don’t know if there is evidence of people bringing it to the Kansas City area after traveling there.
The Wyandotte County Jail has experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 cases, with 12 inmates and two staff members testing positive, she said. The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to test inmates and employees to monitor the outbreak.
Samples from the positive cases at the jail have been sent to the KDHE lab for genetic sequencing to determine if the outbreak includes COVID-19 variants such as Delta, and local health officials expect to get the results later this week, according to the spokesman. The Sheriff’s Office is continuing its regimen of cleaning, offering vaccinations to staff and inmates, testing and quarantining individuals with potential exposure to contain the outbreak, officials said.
The Health Department also said there were two small outbreaks associated with youth summer programs in Wyandotte County. More information is being collected by contact tracers on these outbreaks, and those involved will be given guidance from the Health Department on how to prevent further spread of the virus, according to the spokesman.
In its response to the Delta variants, the Health Department is encouraging people to consider getting vaccinated, which is the best thing to do to protect yourself and others, and is available for free, Friesen said.
Testing is still important to monitor the spread of the virus, especially for the unvaccinated, she said. Testing is still free, and saliva tests are available at the Kmart site at 7836 State Ave.
Also, Wyandotte County residents can request test kits delivered to their door, she said. That request may be made online at the Health Department’s COVID-19 site at www.wycokck.org/COVID-19 or to 311, the UG’s community phone number.
“Wearing a mask is still important in public spaces, especially indoors or in a crowded outdoor space, particularly for people who are unvaccinated,” Friesen said. “Even those who are unvaccinated can choose to wear a mask as a precaution.
“Vaccines and testing are the main things you can do to protect yourself and others,” she said.
Governor, congresswoman launch public service announcements
Gov. Laura Kelly and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., have launched public service announcements urging people to keep safe from the COVID-19 variants by getting a vaccination.
They are asking Kansans to stay vigilant as they travel and celebrate the July 4th holiday. Gov. Kelly is reminding Kansans how they can get tested or schedule a vaccine appointment and is asking people to stay safe by continuing to physically distance and wear masks while around unvaccinated people.
“As we all begin to travel and gather with friends and family, it’s critically important to keep our communities and loved ones safe,” Gov. Kelly said. “We all have a role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially as new strains emerge. We can all do our part to keep our communities safe by continuing to physically distance and wear masks until we are all vaccinated.”
“In the Third District and across Kansas, we’ve made progress towards getting more folks vaccinated—but the road to recovery is long, and we have to keep up the momentum,” Rep. Davids said. “These vaccines work, and in the coming months, it will be critical to use every resource to get vaccines into arms so that we can put our kids back in school safely, get people back to work, and ensure the continued success of our economic recovery.”
To see the video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhFaoqYiwWA.
Doctors concerned about potential surge over holiday weekend
Doctors continued to recommend COVID-19 vaccinations as the Fourth of July holiday approaches.
A big surge has already been reported in southern Missouri, and has been attributed to the Delta variant, according to doctors at the University of Kansas Health System. Smaller communities there have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
Doctors said they were concerned that when hospitals such as one in Springfield transfers some of their overflow COVID-19 patients to hospitals in the Kansas City area, there won’t be room as most of the hospitals already are full with regular patients.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevenetion and control at the KU Health System, said the COVID-19 numbers in the Kansas City area have been trending up but they were nowhere near the surge in Springfield, Missouri. He said Springfield’s surge was a preventable tragedy, because very few of the hospitalized patients had been vaccinated.
At the Thursday morning media update at the University of Kansas Health System, Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, said places such as Los Angeles County, Great Britain and Israel are going back to more restrictions because of a surge in new cases. Getting vaccinated is the best way to stop the surge in cases.
He finds it hard to understand why people aren’t getting vaccinated, because the vaccines are safe.
“At some point, you have to ask yourself, are you really safer not getting vaccinated when over two billion doses of vaccine have been administered throughout the world, and people have not died from the vaccine?” Dr. Stites asked.
To defeat COVID-19 and the variants, it’s now just a matter of everyone taking advantage of vaccines, which are a tremendous weapon, he said.
Free COVID-19 vaccines available
The Unified Government Health Department’s east vaccine location at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th, (near 18th and Ridge), Kansas City, Kansas, will be open to those age 12 and older from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, July 2. Walk-ins will be accepted. This will be the last day for the Armory vaccination site. For more information, see WycoVaccines.org.
Hours now through July 2:
• Kmart site (7836 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas)
o Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. – vaccine and testing incentives available.
• Armory site (100 S. 20th St, Kansas City, Kansas)
o Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. – vaccine and testing incentives available.
Hours beginning the week of July 5:
• Kmart site (7836 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas)
o Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – vaccine and testing incentives available.
• Closed: Armory site (100 S. 20th St, Kansas City, Kansas
Mobile vaccines can still be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311).
Other sites available for vaccinations
Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.
There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacies, which are now also accepting walk-in vaccinations or appointments, and are starting vaccinations for age 12 and up at those pharmacies that are giving Pfizer vaccine (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/).
CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/. Walgreens and Walmart also were listed on www.vaccines.gov as giving vaccinations.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations.
Case numbers reported
There were 12 active COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System, a decrease of one since Wednesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. Five patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Wednesday. Four of those patients were on ventilators, the same as Wednesday. Seven other COVID-19 patients were still hospitalized but were out of the acute phase, a decrease of one since Wednesday. There were a total of 19 COVID patients, a decrease of two from Wednesday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 25 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, July 1, for a cumulative 19,105 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 299 deaths reported, no change.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 177,526 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Thursday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 61.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 318,106 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, June 30, an increase of 455 cases since Monday. There was a total of 5,156 cumulative deaths reported statewide.
According to KDHE figures, Johnson County had a cumulative 59,916 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, June 30, an increase of 92 since Monday. Sedgwick County had a cumulative 58,027 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, June 30, an increase of 74.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday night reported 33,679,482 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 605,019 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 12,872 new cases nationwide and 240 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were Texas, 2,751; Missouri, 1,325; Arizona, 769; Arkansas, 686; and Louisiana, 591.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were India, 48,786; Brazil, 43,836; Colombia, 27,908; United Kingdom, 25,670; and U.S., 12,872, according to Johns Hopkins information.
Free testing available
The Kansas National Guard Armory site, 100 S. 20th, Kansas City, Kansas, will be offering free COVID-19 testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 2. The Armory will be permanently closed for COVID vaccines and testing on July 3. The central location at the former Kmart store at 7836 State Ave. will continue offering testing next week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Besides Health Department sites, free COVID-19 testing is available at several locations in Wyandotte County.
Visit gogettested.com/Kansas and https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19 for more sites.
Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.
For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.
The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. There are more test sites listed on this page.
Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.
The University of Kansas Health System morning media update is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/339870371036745.
The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.
A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.
The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.