COVID delta variant kills Kansas City area resident as cases rise, officials say

Lisa Gutierrez
·2 min read

The COVID-19 delta variant has killed one person in Wyandotte County, health officials there announced on Thursday.

The death is one of 22 cases of the highly contagious variant identified among county residents as of Thursday. But that number could be higher because testing has declined.

Health officials did not identify the person or give an age. But they said most of the delta cases are among younger people, with 14 of them, 64%, in people younger than 30.

The news comes just a day after hospital officials from around the Kansas City metro reported an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations and said many of the patients are younger. Some, with no underlying health conditions, got so sick they needed a lung machine to help them breathe.

The chief medical officers attributed the rise to two things: the delta variant and people not getting vaccinated. That’s a dual problem playing out nationwide as hospitals report that most of the people now getting sick are the unvaccinated.

The delta cases in Wyandotte County do not appear to be linked, which suggests the highly contagious strain is spreading throughout the community, the Unified Government Public Health Department said in its announcement.

Despite months of vaccination efforts and widespread community outreach, only 36% of Wyandotte residents have received one dose of the vaccine, and 31.5% have completed vaccination, according to the county’s data, far lower than the statewide average.

In Kansas, 44.3% percent of residents have received one dose, and 39% have been fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Anyone 12 or older can be vaccinated for free, regardless of whether they have health insurance.

For hours and locations of vaccination locations run by Wyandotte County’s health department go to WycoVaccines.org.

To find pharmacies and other vaccine providers in the metropolitan area, go to Vaccines.gov.

Includes reporting by The Star’s Katie Moore.