Record number of new coronavirus cases in Kansas, 104 new hospitalizations

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — In the past two days, the number of Kansans testing positive for the coronavirus has jumped by 15,322. That is a record for the state. Before this week, the previous high was 7,526 from Nov. 23, 2020.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said it samples about two percent of the positive cases for variants. Since Monday, 62 of the samples tested positive for the omicron variant, while 163 are the delta variant.

The KDHE said 104 more Kansans have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since Monday. Earlier Wednesday, hospital leaders from across the state called the situation a crisis.

The state also reports 15 more Kansas deaths have been linked to COVID-19.

Each Wednesday, the KDHE also updates how many active coronavirus clusters it is tracking across Kansas. There are 176 active clusters this week, 21 more than last Wednesday. Most of the active clusters are at schools (32) and at long-term care facilities (84). The KDHE only names locations that have five or more current cases. No schools were named this week.

These are the COVID-19 exposure locations named this week:

The KDHE also updates its COVID-19 vaccination numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In the past two days:

• 5,466 Kansans got their first dose of a vaccine
• 3,801 got their second dose
• 8,810 got a third dose.

Of Kansans eligible to get vaccinated, 63.62% have received at least one dose, while 54.95% are considered fully vaccinated.