Kansas City, MO - Depending on which side of the state line you live, the positivity rates for both Kansas and Missouri range anywhere from 28.5% to 33.6%, according to data provided by each state.
Dr. Lee Norman is the former Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.. He said the current numbers may not tell the whole story. It is all because those at-home test kit results are not necessarily being reported to health leaders in either Kansas or Missouri or any medical professional.
“People do their testing at home and they may or may not appear in front of a medical person,” said Dr. Norman.
Dr. Norman reiterated vaccines save lives and said at this point it could tough to pinpoint exactly as many cases of COVID there are since the Pandemic began.
“I think the official 850, 870,000 numbers. There are 10 or 15% cases that are not getting reported, we probably are at 1,000,000 cases a day,” said Dr. Norman.
Norman added with all the viruses out there, it can also be hard to track. While a recent report by the Centers for Disease and Control said more than 77% of COVID cases in the Midwest were the Omicron variant, Dr. Norman said that might not be the case.
“Only a select number of tests undergo the genetic testing to figure out which variant it is. At-Home test kits don’t do the genetic testing, so if you test positive and stay home without seeing a doctor, we will never know which variant you have or had,” said Dr. Norman.