Latest COVID-19 surge threatens Kansas hospitals again

Hospitals are 'full, full, full' says Steve Stites of KU Health System.

By

State News

December 16, 2021 - 10:14 AM

Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System Photo by Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Steve Stites is nervous.

Hospitals, he says, are “full, full, full.”

The chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System is monitoring a steep climb in COVID-19 hospitalizations, almost entirely from unvaccinated residents, while hospitals already are busy treating patients suffering from influenza and the respiratory syncytial virus.

Meanwhile, initial studies indicate the new omicron variant is far more transmissible than the delta variant, which was far more transmissible than the original COVID-19.

“I’m just gonna warn everybody: Things are on fire,” Stites said during a news briefing Wednesday.

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