Hospitals generally see more burn victims on the 4th of July weekend. This year they're also seeing more COVID patients in Kansas. After several months of decline, new cases are now rising slowly, and so are hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
The Good: Hospital ICU capacity was 35% in Kansas as of the last day of June, according to KDHE. That's less than last week (37%), but still qualifies as the best news of the week. COVID-related hospitalizations are now hovering in the 140-150 range, after being in the 110-120 range in early June. And cases needing ICU are also beginning to rise, from down in the 30s in early June to the 50s now.
The Bad: The infection reproduction rate, Rt, is now estimated at 1.0. That's the magic number at which active cases start going up again.
The Ugly: Test positivity jumped from 10.6% to 16.8%, according to Johns Hopkins. That's a substantial increase that once again makes Kansas the worst state in the country in this measure. Let's hope it's a data error.
Bonus: COVID continues to rage in rural Missouri, and the effects are now being felt in Kansas City. Several area hospitals are now treating more COVID patients. They have the beds to handle it right now, but the rural hospitals that are sending them those patients are increasingly stressed, according to this doctor from KU Hospital:
Cases are going up in my hospital. Rural counties that send us patients have full hospitals with more than 90% of their cases Delta variant. I know it’s been a long time. I wish this was over, too. It’s not. :(
— Carla Keirns (@CarlaKeirns) July 4, 2021
This will only get worse if current trends hold.
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