Omicron is now in Lyon County. And Chase and Wabaunsee counties as well.
Lyon County Public Health announced via its official Facebook page Thursday evening that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has confirmed the first case of the omicron variant in a COVID patient. This comes as the county’s active case total has surged since New Year’s Eve and currently stands at 601 cases since Wednesday.
On Wednesday, KDHE confirmed single cases of the omicron variant in Chase and Wabaunsee counties. No other area counties have confirmed omicron cases yet, either as announced by KDHE or the respective counties, but KDHE has only been testing 2-3 percent of COVID cases on a random basis.
As of Wednesday, the omicron variant accounted for over 95 percent of new cases nationwide and local health officials have stated in recent weeks that the variant was likely present in the county but had yet to be identified until now. Omicron came to Kansas the week of Dec. 1. It now accounts for almost 90 percent of the sequenced cases across the state.
KVOE has reached out to Public Health for comment on the variant’s arrival in the county. Stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for more information as it becomes available.
KVOE News Director Chuck Samples contributed to this report.
