KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Several Kansas City area school districts are reporting record COVID-19 cases, sparking fears as more schools make masks optional and cases spike among children.
Some districts — such as Shawnee Mission on the Kansas side and Lee's Summit in Missouri — are seeing their highest case numbers since the school year began in August. And some, such as the Blue Valley district in Johnson County and North Kansas City across the state line, report record numbers of cases since the pandemic began, according to each district's COVID-19 dashboard.
While COVID numbers fell throughout the Kansas City metro earlier this fall, some districts agreed to ease mask mandates, with many doing so after Thanksgiving break. But now cases are skyrocketing once again, as the highly contagious delta and omicron variants spread, and as vaccination rates continue to lag among children and teenagers.
"Case rates and COVID-19 hospitalizations throughout the metro are increasing rapidly. I know of a few hospitals that are at capacity for ICU beds," said Charles Cohlmia with the Jackson County Health Department.
In eastern Jackson County, he said, case rates have more than doubled in the last four weeks, particularly among the unvaccinated.
"During the month of November, the highest COVID-19 case rate was in individuals 10-14 years of age and, so far this week, almost 35% of (cases) have been in people under the age of 20," Cohlmia said. "This, coupled with the fact that our case rate among the unvaccinated population is getting close to 500 cases per 100,000 population (almost four times the case rate for vaccinated people), we can't stress enough the importance of safety during this holiday season."
Alex Francisco, public health statistician with the Kansas City health department, said that cases have "increased significantly since Thanksgiving, with a 90% increase in the last week," rising from 714 cases the week of Nov. 21 to 1,357 last week. The highest case rates are among children and teens.
On the Kansas side, the Johnson County health department on Tuesday reported an incidence rate — the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the past week — of 348 per 100,000. That's up from 123 on Oct. 7.
"Cases continue to rise. People who are not fully vaccinated, large groups of people gathering inside, and some people not wearing masks could all be factors in rising cases," said Johnson County health director Sanmi Areola. "Our community is also experiencing a decrease of resources for testing, constraints on the ability of public health to do case investigations and contact tracing, and some who choose not to follow public health isolation processes."
On Monday, the Shawnee Mission district reported 160 cases among students, beating its previous high this school year of 96 in August. Of those, 110 were among elementary students. Last month, the school board agreed to remove its mask mandate in middle and high schools starting in the beginning of January.
Blue Valley last week reported a record 108 cases among students and staff, the majority of which, 95, were students. That's the highest weekly case count in the district since the start of the pandemic, according to the district's data.
Both Blue Valley and Olathe have made masks optional in high schools since students returned from Thanksgiving break. And both of the districts have said that if case numbers reach a certain point in school buildings, they would temporarily bring back mask mandates.
In Olathe, 184 new student cases were reported last week, up from 79 the week before, and beating the district's previous school-year record of 114 this past summer.
The Johnson County health department continues to have a health order mandating masks in schools that serve students as old as sixth grade.
Kansas City Public Schools reported a lower number, 58 cases among students and staff last week. The Kansas City Council voted last week to extend the mask mandate for schools through the end of the year.
The North Kansas City district reported 175 new student cases last week, a record. Also last week, the Lee's Summit district saw 110 cases, another record for the year, and close to the numbers reported in Blue Springs, with 101 new cases.
Last month, Lee's Summit made masks optional for older students and staff. In pre-K and elementary schools, masks are required through Dec. 21. The Blue Springs district dropped its mask mandate last month, hours after the Jackson County Legislature lifted its COVID-19 health order.
"I know that we have expressed concerns regarding the removal of universal masking requirements in schools, but since the county mandate had expired, it falls to the decision of the schools to have that universal mask mandate or not," Cohlmia said.
Public health experts maintain that masks are an effective and reasonable tool to help prevent spread of the virus, especially in a school setting where people are in close contact and many remain unvaccinated. Teenagers have been able to get the vaccine for a few months, but it was only in November that children ages 5 to 11 became eligible.
"When community spread increases, children are going to be the most vulnerable due to their delay in vaccine eligibility. In combination with many school districts dropping mask mandates, spread will inevitably increase," Francisco said.
"Schools should strongly consider continued masking of students even in areas where no official mask mandates exist. This will be especially important after the winter break as well when school resumes."
With cases rising, many parents are sounding the alarm, worried about sending their children to maskless classrooms.
Blue Valley father Jason Anderson and other concerned parents, for example, penned a letter to the district late last month urging a return to universal masking.
"Blue Valley's COVID case rates are higher than at any point since the beginning of the pandemic. The conditions that supported the decision to suspend mask requirements in high school buildings are no longer true," the letter states.
Removing masks, health officials said, means one COVID-19 case in a classroom leads to far more exposures.
During Tuesday's COVID-19 update with the University of Kansas Health System, several area chief medical officers said that the jump in COVID-19 patients is similar to last winter, but this time it's being driven by the unvaccinated. They said that lifting mask restrictions adds to the problem and agreed that masks should be required in all schools.
Meanwhile, Cohlmia said health officials are making a "mad dash" to get children vaccinated as quickly as possible.
"Community vaccination numbers are not where we need to see them, with 51.3% of all residents having completed a vaccination series. We're working to get those 5-11 years of age vaccinated, but since those individuals were just approved for vaccination, it's a bit of a climb right now," he said. "Even then, vaccination coverage for children 5-18 is still only 33.6% initiating vaccination and 24.9% completing a series."
Johnson County has had higher vaccination rates than the rest of the metro. In Johnson County, nearly 25% of those in the 5-11 age group are at least partially vaccinated. More than 60% of those in the 12-17 age group are fully vaccinated.
Health experts expect gatherings over the holidays to lead to more cases.
"Having a lot of people get together, particularly when there is such a massive increase in our case rates, can lead to additional spread throughout both schools and the community," Cohlmia said.
"I cannot stress this enough, the importance of safety during the holiday season," he said. "There's a two-week period before the vaccine hits full effect, so getting a booster now will ensure you are protected by the time you visit family for the holidays. I always get tested before I visit loved ones. If you're sick, stay home. Mask up. And ask your health department if you have any questions about COVID or the vaccine."
