TOPEKA (KSNT) – The virus responsible for causing sickness across the world and introducing many people to the wonders of face masks is on the uptick in Kansas.

Newly released data for the date range of July 9 to the 15 from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows that COVID-19 infections have reached the “High” infection rate level in 89 out of 105 Kansas counties or around 82%.

Counties marked in orange are considered to be in the high COVID-19 rate category. (Photo courtesy/Kansas Department of Health and Environment)

Nearly the entire Eastern half of the state is under the high COVID-19 infection rate while some counties in central, Northwestern and Southwestern Kansas sit at “Substantial” or lower infection rates. For a county to be labeled under the High category, it must have 100 cases per 100,000 people.

COVID-19 infections have been trending upward since April 3, 2022 and reached a peak on July 10 when the number of infections per 100,000 people reached 244. However, the most recent trend data shows that cases are moving down considering numbers from the entire state: as of July 17, the number of cases per 100,000 is 89.

Going back to the last spike in COVID-19 numbers in January earlier this year, the seven-day rolling average for new cases was 7,770 with the daily number coming in at 13,290.

According to the most recent data on COVID-19 numbers as of July 20 for the total number of recorded infections, there were 827,301 cases with 8,966 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Of these, 439,560 are female and 386,748 are male with 993 unknown.

There have been 989 new cases according the KDHE’s seven day average as of July 18. Also, a total of 49 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19 have been recorded.

So what does this mean for you? According to Dr. Clif Jones, Infectious Disease Specialist with Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, additional precautions may need to be taken at this time. He said that you should consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine if you haven’t already, avoid mass gatherings, mask up when in indoor spaces and use common sense.

To take a look at the KDHE’s data for yourself, click here.