Kansas COVID-19

In Kansas, which the CDC ranks as “likely growing” in its number of COVID-19 infections, the number of cases seen in the emergency department was less than 0.1% of all visits for the week ending Aug. 22, said Jill Bronaugh, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations mandate staff vaccinations for employers that receive funding. But the high court ruled that Katlin Keeran was protected by a 2021 Kansas law making it illegal for employers to question the sincerity of religious beliefs for opting out of vaccines.

The Kansas Supreme Court heard a case this week that stems from a Leawood woman who sought a religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for an occupational therapy job.

During the pandemic, a mass exodus of employees left the medical field. Hospital leaders say they're finally starting to fill open positions with permanent workers instead of contract employees, but higher COVID cases have sent many medical workers home sick.

The Kansas legislature is considering a bill that would strip powers from local public health officials to contain disease outbreaks.

Post-COVID care centers have been popping up across the country as millions of Americans struggle with the aftereffects of the virus. The centers are typically in larger cities and can have months-long wait times.

That’s according to findings from a statewide poll by Fort Hays State University released Tuesday.

Federal money will pay for property tax refunds for some small businesses that lost money in the wake of various efforts to control the spread of COVID-19.

Kansas hospital spending grew 13% in 2020, at a faster rate than the national average. That could mean higher health insurance premiums.

Inmates at prisons in Oswego are headed to other facilities in Kansas, mostly the Lansing Correctional Facility.