The new year has ushered in what may be Kansas City’s worst wave of COVID-19 infections yet, with record level hospitalizations.

Early research has shown that the omicron variant may cause less severe illness in some people than other variants like delta. But the short of it is that in Kansas City, it may still be too early to tell if the variant will have a milder impact. With local hospitals overwhelmed and short on beds from both delta and omicron, it’s not yet the time to let your guard down.

The Kansas City Star talked to Dr. Carole Freiberger, a critical care specialist at Saint Luke's, and Dr. Sarah Boyd, an infectious disease specialist on Saint Luke's COVID-19 Response Team, to learn more about how the omicron variant is impacting Kansas City. 

Read the Kansas City Star article: Is the omicron variant actually milder? Here’s what Kansas City doctors are seeing