Overwhelmed by COVID caseloads, Kansas health officials are shifting the responsibility of monitoring the virus’ spread to the general public. As of Feb. 1, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will cease contact tracing,…

Kansas will stop contact tracing for COVID-19 next month because it is “futile” as confirmed cases increase and the public becomes less interested in participating, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Tuesday.  The…

TOPEKA — Preliminary reports indicate Kansas suffered a 54% increase in drug overdoses during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, state health officials said. The Kansas Department of…

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Kansas on Monday reported a record seven-day average for new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, as one of the state’s largest hospitals struggled to treat an influx of patients. State health…

TOPEKA — Intensive care unit nurse Caitlin Beatty says no amount of medical education could prepare health workers for a hospital landscape burgeoning with patients catastrophically ill with COVID-19. Nearly two years into the pandemic,…

The local health department will no longer investigate COVID-19 cases or report weekly totals because of a state-level change. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will take over that responsibility. The Allen County Health…

TOPEKA — Steve Stites is nervous. Hospitals, he says, are “full, full, full.” The chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System is monitoring a steep climb in COVID-19 hospitalizations, almost entirely from…

TOPEKA — Kansas legislative leaders and the governor Thursday approved $14.9 million to extend state testing programs through the end of the year. With COVID-19 cases rising in Kansas and the omicron variant looming, the…

TOPEKA — Lee Norman stepped down Thursday from his high-profile cabinet post as the chief medical officer in Kansas, where he managed the state’s response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. His departure from Gov. Laura…

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ top public health official has resigned, only days before the Legislature was set to convene a special session to consider proposals for pushing back against federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Democratic…