COVID-19 highlights for the week of 11/15/21:
What’s Happening?
- Average daily new cases in the Metro have increased slightly to 274 over the past week.
- All communities within our region are now at a high level of transmission as defined by the CDC (see below), meaning 2 counties in each region moved from substantial to high community transmission over the last week. CDC uses Nov 07 2021 – Nov 13 2021 for current case rate and Nov 05 2021 – Nov 11 2021 for percent positivity. The percent change in counties at each level of transmission is the absolute change compared to the previous 7-day period.
The numbers below reflect the current levels of transmission in the 9 Metro jurisdictions and the 9 jurisdictions in the HCC N-S.
| Region | Low | Moderate | Substantial | High |
| # Metro Counties | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| # N/S Counties | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
From the CDC web site:
What Can I Expect?
- Temptation to let up on masking which, as our history with COVID has shown, could lead to increased transmission and perhaps another surge.
- Slight increases in case and hospitalization numbers leading into a time of increased travel and gatherings for the Thanksgiving holiday could lead to increased community transmission.
What Can I Do?
- CDC guidance recommends that everyone in communities with high or substantial levels of community transmission wear a mask in public indoor settings (CDC)
- Check with your primary care physician or pediatrician’s office on where to find a vaccine near you. You may also visit vaccines.gov; text your ZIP code to 438829 (GETVAX); or call 1-800-232-0233; or visit Prepare Metro KC (preparemetrokc.org)
- Continue to follow your local public health guidance regarding isolation and quarantine.
- If you are making travel plans for the upcoming holidays, make sure to include a COVID-19 test prior to travel as part of those plans and added caution upon return, including monitoring for symptoms and testing if symptoms arise.
- Now is the time to get vaccinated to be safe for the holidays. For example, an individual initiating vaccination on November 15th would be fully protected by:
- December 20th at the earliest (two weeks after second dose) for Pfizer
- December 27th at the earliest (two weeks after second dose) for Moderna
- November 29th at the earliest (two weeks after single dose) for J&J
- See CDC’s “Safer Ways to Celebrate Holidays” on other ways to mitigate risk and stay safe.