Kansas data doesn't reflect reality as COVID-19 rips through schools

TOPEKA — School districts across the state independently reported hundreds of infections of COVID-19 among students and staff in the first two weeks of school, while the state’s official ledger showed just two small outbreaks.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s data on school infections is unreliable because of the difficulty in tracing sources of infections and communication between the agency and local health officials. In its most recent update, the agency’s official accounting attributed just 75 new cases to outbreaks at public schools.

The number of outbreaks is actually much higher, but nobody is attempting to tally statewide numbers. Gov. Laura Kelly last week announced a new workgroup would produce a weekly report with active outbreaks, but the governor’s office didn’t say when the first report would be released. It isn’t clear whether the report will rely on the same incomplete data.

County health departments determine the source of outbreaks, but the task is made difficult by the surge in COVID-19 cases attributed to the delta variant and restrictions imposed by the Legislature last year that allow infected residents to opt out of contact tracing. Because of widespread community transmission, it can be difficult to determine whether children who test positive at school were infected there or showed up with the virus.

Read more: https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/07/kansas-data-doesnt-reflect-reality-as-covid-19-rips-through-schools/