Counties across northeast Kansas and the Kansas city metro area are reporting medium to high-level hospital admissions due to COVID-19. Hospitals in Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas and Leavenworth Counties in Kansas are reporting high levels of COVID-19 admissions. The CDC recommends wearing a mask in those counties. In other counties in the region, masking is recommended if you are at high risk of illness.
Dana Hawkinson, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Kansas Health System, says people can always wear a mask if they want to, as it’s known that masking does help reduce risk of infection. Officials at the KU Health System say more people are coming in for testing at the system’s clinics so case numbers are likely to rise. Nearly 1% of all visits and more than 4% of pediatric visits are for RSV. Nearly 3% of visits are for COVID, and more than 1% are for the flu. Public health officials recommend frequent hand-washing, avoiding contact with sick people and other virus prevention precautions.
