KC area hospital sees more COVID patients. What to know about new variants and booster

At least one Kansas City area hospital has seen an increase in COVID-19 patients as several new variants of the virus have been found in the metro area.

The University of Kansas Health System on Wednesday had six patients with active COVID-19 infections, two of whom are in the intensive care unit, according to a hospital news briefing. That’s much lower than patient numbers seen during the height of previous COVID-19 surges, but is slightly higher than in recent weeks.

“(In) the past 2 weeks, our hospital’s number of active infections has increased slightly,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, the hospital’s medical director of infection prevention and control.

The hospital’s patient count mirrors recent national trends: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data shows that new hospital admissions due to COVID-19 across the U.S. increased by over 12% during the week beginning July 17.

As of July 22, the CDC listed 56 new COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past week in the five-county Kansas City metro area. Due to reporting delays, these numbers are several weeks behind the present.

“We have to be careful, because we know wastewater testing and numbers nationally are starting to show a little bit of a rise again,” added Dr. Steve Stites, the hospital’s chief medical officer.

New variants with names like “Kraken,” “Hyperion” and “Arcturus” are currently dominant in the metro. Some of the new variants have shown immunity to the vaccines and antibodies designed to fight earlier strains of the virus.

But a new booster vaccine is on the way that could help fight them.

Here’s what to know about recent COVID-19 trends in Kansas City and how to stay safe from the virus.

What do we know about COVID-19 case numbers in the metro?

New COVID-19 cases are no longer widely tracked due to at-home testing and the end of the federal COVID-19 emergency declaration in May.

“We hope the numbers stay low, but are always bracing for an increase in the number of severe disease (cases) and hospitalizations,” Hawkinson said in Wednesday’s briefing.

While the University of Kansas Health System has been seeing a slight increase in COVID-19 patients, this isn’t the case across the board. For example, Liberty Hospital hasn’t seen a notable increase over the past several weeks.

“Our numbers throughout June and July remained low with less than five COVID-19 inpatients at any given time,” said spokesperson Michelle Manuel.

The Star reached out to 12 local hospitals for their latest COVID-19 patient numbers. We’ll update this story when we hear back.

Which COVID variants are on the rise in Kansas City?

Dr. Marc Johnson, who runs a wastewater testing lab at the University of Missouri in Columbia, told The Star that samples from around the state show many subvariants of the XBB strain, itself a variation of the omicron variant.

“Wastewater numbers overall are still quite low in MO, but we are seeing some spikes,” he said. “Nothing scary high, but some seem to be trending in the wrong direction.”

The CDC variant tracker shows that the most prevalent variants in the region that includes Kansas and Missouri are currently the Hyperion variant (XBB.1.9.1), the Kraken variant (XBB.1.5) and the Arcturus variant (XBB.1.16).

What can I do to keep myself safe from these new COVID variants?

Those hoping to stay safe from the latest COVID-19 variants will be happy to hear that a new booster vaccine is in the works from Pfizer and BioNTech, two companies that have successfully collaborated on past vaccines and boosters.

The new vaccine is designed to combat the XBB.1.5 or “Kraken” variant, and if approved will be suitable for those aged 6 months or older.

Last week, the companies announced that they have submitted applications for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the new booster shot, and expect they could get approval by the end of August. The vaccine would then go into production in time to roll out this fall.

Until then, common-sense health and safety measures can still help prevent illness. These include hand-washing, staying home when sick, keeping your distance from those exhibiting symptoms and wearing a mask in crowded places.

Do you have more questions about staying safe from COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.