MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in Kansas are making their tentative first steps toward easing visitor restrictions that were put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus, as health officials finish the first round of vaccinations. Dr. Lee ...

One more Douglas County resident has died from COVID-19, according to the local health department’s update about the virus on Thursday, bringing the county's death toll to 71. According to the health department's dashboard, there have been 32 deaths in the 85-plus age range, 21 deaths in the ...

Douglas County’s school virus guidance has been downgraded to its lowest tier as cases for COVID-19 continue to fall. Lawrence Douglas County Public Health announced Thursday its recommendation to schools would drop to the green tier, which recommend schools use fully in-person classes. The ...

Two local in-store pharmacies have been selected to participate in a federal COVID-19 vaccine distribution program. Walmart pharmacies, including the one on Congressional Drive in Lawrence, and Dillons Food Stores pharmacies, including the one on 23rd and Naismith, were selected as ...

TOPEKA — Wichita restaurant owner John Arnold says it is difficult to avoid feeling vilified by government restrictions placed on businesses in the interest of public health. The pandemic treated his industry differently, Arnold explained to lawmakers during a hearing Tuesday in the House. ...

MISSION — Kansas school districts are rushing to vaccinate their teachers in preparation for an eventual return to a full reopening of classrooms and before a more contagious strain of the coronavirus can spread throughout the state. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told leaders of the ...

In her room at a Georgia nursing home, Bessie Burden was so concerned about the coronavirus that she wore a mask — sometimes two — even when she slept. With the home closed to visitors because of the pandemic, Burden’s daughters worried about their spunky 77-year-old mother, who decades ...

Douglas County reported 8,382 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, an increase of 36 cases since Monday. In Douglas County, 7,754 out of the 8,382 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 628 cases are active. The county has ...

MISSION — A virulent strain of the coronavirus that first appeared in Kansas in a Fort Hays State University athlete hasn't spread widely, although wastewater samples in the community have raised concerns, health officials say. Officials sent a mobile lab to Hays after the variant that is ...

Four more Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19, according to the local health department’s update about the virus on Monday. The new deaths, which bring the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the county to 70, were a man and a woman in the 85-plus age range, a man in the 75 ...

TOPEKA — Long-term care lobbyist Rachel Monger is convinced the Kansas law passed less than a year ago to limit civil liability of nursing homes during the pandemic fell far short. Monger, speaking on behalf of LeadingAge Kansas’ 20,000 employees serving more than 25,000 older Kansans, ...

TOPEKA — In a one-sided, two-and-a-half-hour “informational hearing” Wednesday, a parade of upset parents, children, outspoken doctors and lobbyists vented to Kansas legislators in the House K-12 Budget Committee their frustrations with the shortcomings of remote and hybrid ...

On the wall of Mark Richter’s intensive care room, where he lay sedated as he fought COVID-19, hung two pieces of paper. On one was a bulleted list of facts about his life — that he was a professor, that he had four kids, that he enjoyed a competitive match of croquet — and on the other ...

When the Lawrence school district recently began a mandatory COVID-19 testing program for its middle and high school students and staff participating in “high-risk” athletics, Traci and David Marcum quickly grew frustrated. Their son, Matthew Marcum, a Free State High School wrestler who ...

Douglas County reported 8,298 cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, an increase of 22 cases since Thursday. In Douglas County, 7,699 out of the 8,298 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 599 cases are active. The county has ...

Story updated at 6:34 p.m. Friday TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration plans to begin giving COVID-19 vaccinations to Kansas prison inmates next week, ignoring a call from the Republican-controlled Legislature to postpone their inoculations so that others can ...

TOPEKA (AP) — A faster-spreading coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom is probably more widespread in Kansas than a single confirmed case in the state's northwest suggests, officials with a major health system said Thursday. The first identified case of the variant came ...

Douglas County’s school virus guidance will remain the same for a third straight week, despite the number of cases for the coronavirus continuing to fall. Lawrence Douglas County Public Health announced Thursday its recommendation to schools would remain in the yellow tier, which calls for ...

Two more Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19, according to the local health department’s update about the virus on Thursday. The health department's dashboard did not have updated information about the age ranges of the two people who recently died from the virus, and ...

NEWTON — Kansas plans to invest the nearly $85 million the state received in federal coronavirus relief funding for infrastructure programs and services in every county, leaving no part of the state behind, Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday. The governor was joined by Transportation Secretary ...