The new COVID variant is hammering health care systems around the world. Sedgwick County Health Director Adrienne Byrne tells KNSS News Omicron is at least twice as contagious as Delta, but it may not be as severe. She says "our hospitals are already critical and there not many beds" available. Byrne says 85 percent of those in hospitals are unvaccinated. Byrne says vaccinated people can still be infected, but they're less likely to wind up in the hospital.
Byrne says fewer than 50 percent of Sedgwick county residents have got the shots.
