COVID-19 highlights for the week of 11/22/21:
What’s Happening?
- Average daily new cases in the Metro have sharply increased from 266 to 353 over the past week.
- Average daily new cases in the HCC N-S have sharply increased from 35 to 53 over the past week.
- All communities within our region remained at a high level of transmission as defined by the CDC (see below).
The numbers below reflect the current levels of transmission in the 9 Metro jurisdictions and the 9 jurisdictions in the HCC N-S.
- Vaccines are now available and underway for 5-11 year olds, providing the opportunity to help protect them and those around them from COVID-19.
- All American adults are now eligible for coronavirus vaccine boosters. (WP)
What Can I Expect?
- Rising cases and hospitalizations are expected to continue to worsen due to the compounding effects of:
- The upcoming holiday season leading to more gatherings, crowds and travel
- Relaxed masking requirements in certain jurisdictions
- Low vaccination rates
Given our experience from last year, this increase in cases could continue well into 2022.
- Irregular reporting due to the holidays may skew data or, at a minimum, make it particularly delayed in appearing on the MARC COVID-19 Data Hub and other sources.
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). You can check the transmission status of your community or those you intend to visit on the CDC Covid Data Tracker.
- If you have travel plans for the 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.
- 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.
- Now is the time to get vaccinated to be safe for the holidays. For example, an individual initiating vaccination on November 29th would be fully protected by:
- January 3rd at the earliest (two weeks after second dose) for Pfizer
- January 10th at the earliest (two weeks after second dose) for Moderna
- December 13th 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.