KCUR 89.3 Even before kids head back to school — mostly unvaccinated — Kansas is seeing a troubling spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. For six straight months, COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped steadily. Kansans let down their guard. They stopped wearing masks. Most didn’t bother to get the vaccine. Then the It took root, and is fueling a surge of the coronavirus worse than anything in the past several months. That’s led to steep increases in hospitalizations and fresh outbreaks in long-term care. Kansas reported 3,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past week. The state hasn’t seen an increase like that since February.