KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 41 Action News is offering a daily recap of COVID-19 related stories from across Kansas City and the country. Check back every morning for the latest developments.
LATEST: COVID-19 case tracker for Missouri, Kansas and Kansas City
University of Kansas Health System daily update
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System said Tuesday they are treating 70 patients for COVID-19.
Of those, 28 are suffering from acute infections, nine of whom are in the intensive care unit and three on ventilators.
Forty-two patients are in recovery stages of the disease.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman joined the doctors on Tuesday’s broadcast.
Norman said the extreme cold has caused some delays in shipments of vaccine doses from the federal government, though he believes it will be only a minor speed bump.
He also warned people not to let their guard down as the “more infectious” B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 appeared for a second time in Kansas.
Missouri cancels COVID-19 mass vaccination events for remainder of week
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said mass vaccination events that use state resources are canceled for the rest of the week due to the extreme cold and other severe winter weather conditions.
Events involving the Missouri National Guard, Department of Health and Senior Services or the State Emergency Management Agency have been canceled through Feb. 19.
KDHE identifies 2nd case of COVID-19 U.K. variant in Kansas
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said a second case of the B.1.1.7 variant has been identified in the state.
The variant, also referred to as the U.K. variant, first appeared in Ellis County. The most recent case is located in Sedgwick County, health officials said, and close contacts have been notified.
Officials urge Kansans to continue practicing COVID-19 precautions as the variant is known for being more infectious and faster-spreading than the original strain.
JCDHE partners with Hy-Vee to administer COVID-19 vaccines at senior living facilities
Residents at more than 20 Johnson County senior living facilities will receive COVID-19 vaccines through a partnership between the county health department and local grocer Hy-Vee.
Hy-Vee will administer the Pfizer vaccine to the residents via mobile clinics at no cost to the residents.
Kansas struggles to fix vaccine reporting issues
The state of Kansas is still working to resolve issues with its vaccine administration reporting system.
Officials say glitches caused around 100,000 vaccines not to be reported as administered, even though they'd been given.
Gov. Laura Kelly said the state has been in contact with the program vendor to resolve the issues.
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