photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Thirty-one new COVID-19 cases have been reported to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health since Monday, bringing the cumulative case total in the county to 9,489, as of Wednesday.

Like many communities in the region, Douglas County has seen an increase in new cases with the emergence of the more contagious Delta variant.

Testing has identified seven Douglas County cases in the past month of the Delta variant, according to the health department, but the department notes that sequencing through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment takes about six to nine days to identify the variant, so it’s likely that the county has more than just seven cases.

The variant spread widely in India and Britain, and U.S. public health officials have voiced concern about the contagious variant spreading in communities with low vaccination rates, including recently in southwestern Missouri.

Douglas County has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the state, according to the health department, but the rate still sits at 53% of the eligible population fully vaccinated and 59% with one dose.

The health department is urging people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and the community. Everyone 12 and older is eligible for the vaccine, which is widely available through doctors’ offices, pharmacies and other health care outlets. The public can also visit LDCHealth.org/COVIDVaccine to book an appointment.

The current vaccines have been effective at preventing hospitalization and death, the health department said, and early research on the vaccines’ effectiveness against the Delta variant is encouraging. However, people may consider still using masks and distancing when in larger crowds, the health department said.

Eighty-five people in Douglas have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic emerged in early 2020.