One of Kansas’s largest hospitals is straining to treat an influx of COVID 19 patients, even as the surging virus sidelines hundreds of doctors and nurses. Dr. Steve Stites, Chief Medical Officer at the University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, says Monday, at the University of Kansas Hospital, more than 500 employees, out of a staff of more than 13,000, are sick or awaiting test results. The illnesses come as the hospital is treating 108 COVID 19 patients, up from 40 on December 1. He says vaccination would have prevented all but a handful of the COVID 19 patients from being hospitalized, freeing up beds for other patients.
State Health Department data released Monday, shows Kansas reported an average of 3,134 new COVID 19 cases a day for the seven days ending Monday. That’s 13% higher than the previous record of 2,767 cases per day for the seven days ending November 18, 2020.
