photo by: LMH Health

LMH Health, 325 Maine St., is pictured in May 2021.

LMH Health has opened up a COVID unit due to the recent uptick in coronavirus inpatients, the hospital has announced.

On Thursday, the hospital had 16 total COVID inpatients, which included 14 active and two recovering cases. Since June 15, the hospital has had 224 total COVID inpatients, 71% of whom have been unvaccinated or status unknown, 24% of whom have been fully vaccinated and 5% of whom have been partially vaccinated.

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health reported on Wednesday that the 14-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in Douglas County was nearly 31; that’s up from about 22, or about 40%, from last week’s report. Between Monday and Wednesday alone, 120 new cases were reported in the county.

LMH noted that Kansas has yet to report a case of the omicron variant and that the delta variant continues to be the main variant circulating locally and throughout the country.

In its news release Thursday, the hospital shared some insights from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the omicron variant, including:

• The omicron variant likely will spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, and “we don’t yet know how it will compare to delta in that respect.”

• The CDC expects that people with omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated and/or asymptomatic.

• Current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths with omicron, though breakthrough infections are likely to occur.

The county has urged all individuals 5 and older to get vaccinated and to get booster shots as they become eligible to do so. The free vaccines are widely available through the health department, local pharmacies and doctors’ offices.