Gov. Laura Kelly responded to mounting staff shortages at Kansas hospitals and nursing homes by issuing a new COVID-19 disaster emergency declaration and companion executive orders temporarily suspending laws and regulations on health care providers.
August Rudisell / The Lawrence Times
Kansas and federal public health officials Thursday expanded eligibility for the Pfizer booster shot to 36,000 children between ages 12-15, and moderately or severely immunocompromised children ages 5-11 can get an additional primary dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Drone Lawrence/dronelawrence.com
Douglas County officials have implemented an emergency mask mandate to curb the spread of COVID-19 as case numbers have reached record highs in the past week.
Jennifer Schrimsher, a physician at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, was up until 2 a.m. revising contingency plans. The hospital, like all others in Kansas, is coping with unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 patients and staff members out sick with the virus.
Schools will be back in session Thursday despite record numbers of COVID-19 infections in Douglas County, leaving parents and teachers wondering how the district plans to keep people safe and buildings staffed.
Lawrence Times graphic
The 14-day moving average of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Douglas County has reached a new high, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health statistics showed Monday.
August Rudisell / Lawrence Times file photo
The City of Lawrence is once again putting in place more strict measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Testing in Kansas confirmed more than 10,000 cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and 25 cases of the Omicron mutation, and public health reports showed more than 1,000 hospitalizations and 250 fatalities linked to the virus so far this month.
The extended COVID-19 pandemic is driving young health care workers away from the medical field and compelling experienced doctors and nurses to retire. Omicron is a reminder that it’s far from over.
Lawrence Times graphic
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health has received 210 reports of new COVID-19 cases since Monday, according to the department’s Wednesday update, bringing the total of known active cases to 908.
