Who’s getting coronavirus in Kansas and Missouri? Who’s dying? Here’s what we know
Update: A woman in her 50s associated with Johnson County Community College tested positive for coronavirus, health officials announced Saturday. This is the first case that was transmitted locally, officials said. The test will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control for confirmation.
The Wyandotte County man who was the Kansas City area’s first coronavirus death fit the profile of most Americans who have died from the disease: He was in his 70s, had a heart condition and lived in a long-term care facility, Kansas officials said Thursday.
The other confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas and Missouri, none of them fatal, share at least one thing in common: All the patients had recently traveled, two outside the country.
Most are younger than the demographic federal health officials say is most at risk for suffering serious complications, or death.
Missouri officials on Friday announced two more “presumptive positive” cases in the state but did not provide many details. One is a patient in their 50s in St. Louis County. Health officials on Saturday said the other is from Henry County, in the Clinton area.
Here’s what is known about the other cases in Kansas and Missouri:
Death in Wyandotte County: Kansas officials said Thursday that the victim, who had lived in a long-term care facility, was transported to Providence Medical Center with acute cardiac symptoms and a fever. He died Wednesday morning. A post-mortem examination revealed that he was infected with the virus.
The man had not been traveling, said Lee Norman, secretary for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. It is unclear how he contracted the virus, but his appears to be the region’s first case that was contracted in the community.
The latest in Kansas: A man in his 70s is in isolation at Wichita’s Wesley Medical Center after testing positive for the virus, officials announced Friday. He is a resident of neighboring Butler County who had traveled outside of the United States. No details were provided about where he traveled.
Also in Missouri: Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced in Greene County on Thursday that a Springfield patient is the state’s second “presumptive positive” case of coronavirus. The person is in their 20s and had just returned from a trip to Austria. No other biographical details were provided. The patient is quarantined at home with mild symptoms and was expected to recover, he said.
Three more in Kansas: Three Johnson County men between 35 and 65 who had traveled to an unidentified Florida conference, all contracted the virus, health officials said Thursday.
The men didn’t show symptoms when they returned, but “did all the right things” and isolated themselves when symptoms showed up, said health officials who are contacting people who might have been exposed to them.
First case in Kansas: A Johnson County woman under 50 had traveled to the Northeastern United States.
She began having symptoms March 1 and saw her doctor March 2 or 3. Local health officials hailed her for doing “everything right” by using a mask once symptoms started, isolating herself at home and contacting her doctor.
Her case was announced on Saturday. On Monday, officials at the University of Kansas Hospital announced she was a patient there and doing well.
First case in Missouri: A woman in her 20s had recently traveled to Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.
She followed proper procedures for quarantining at her home in St. Louis County and when symptoms began was tested at Mercy Hospital St. Louis, county executive Sam Page said on Saturday.
But then her case took a controversial twist when her father and sister, who were self-quarantined with her, attended a school function on Saturday, angering local authorities and school officials who canceled classes on Monday.
“We relied on common sense and good will toward the community to self-quarantine,” Page said.
Coronavirus trends
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more cases of COVID-19 are expected in the coming days, including more cases of people contracting it within the community, not from travel.
To slow that down, everything from Broadway shows to major league and college sporting events on Thursday were shut down.
Kansas City declared a 21-day state of emergency that canceled all events with more than 1,000 attendees. There have been no cases of the coronavirus in Kansas City proper, but health officials say it’s likely there are people who have it and don’t know it.
Health officials across the country estimate that between 60 percent and 80 percent of the U.S. population could get the virus within the next two years, said Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer.
For that reason, Kansas City’s health department advises that people 60 and older avoid attending events. That’s a “strong” recommendation for people 70 and older.
“Starting at age 60, there is an increasing risk of disease, and the risk increases with age. The highest risk of serious illness and death is in people older than 80 years,” Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters this week.
In South Korea, she said, “no one under the age of 30 has died, and in Japan no one under the age of 50 has died,” Messonnier said.
“Data from these countries help us understand the potential risk here in the U.S. That’s why it’s so important for older adults and people with serious underlying health conditions to be prepared.”
According to published reports, the majority of Americans who have died from the virus were older than 60 — ranging from a man in his 50s in Washington state to a woman in her 90s in California — and many had other medical problems.
Coronavirus deaths in the United States
South Dakota: A man in his 60s with underlying health problems, from Pennington County in the western part of the state. He had tested positive for coronavirus but health officials had not confirmed the virus caused his death as of Thursday.
Georgia: A 67-year-old man with underlying health conditions. He became the state’s first death, announced on Thursday.
New Jersey: A 69-year-old horse trainer who suffered from several health issues, including diabetes, hypertension and emphysema, NJ.com reported. He suffered a heart attack on Monday and died after a second one on Tuesday, the news outlet reported.
California: A woman older than 60 who had underlying health issues, Los Angeles county health officials said. She did not live in the county but was visiting after traveling over the last month, including a long layover in South Korea, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A 71-year-old man with underlying health conditions who had recently returned from a trip on the Grand Princess cruise ship, hit by the virus, according to KTVU in Oakland.
A woman in her 60s who had been hospitalized for several weeks died Monday morning. She was the first person in Santa Clara county who had no known history of international travel, or contact with a traveler or infected person, “suggesting she contracted COVID-19 in our community,” county health officials said.
A woman in her 90s who lived in an assisted living facility in Sacramento County.
Florida: Two men, both in their 70s, who had traveled overseas. One man, from the state’s Panhandle, had underlying health issues and had possibly traveled to Egypt or Israel, the Associated Press reported.
Washington: Twenty-six of the 29 deaths reported as of Thursday on the state health department’s website are associated to an outbreak at Life Care Center in Kirkland, outside Seattle. One of the first victims was a man in his 50s.
Other deaths in the state include:
▪ A woman in her 80s who lived in a nursing and rehabilitation center, according to the Fox station in Seattle.
▪ A man in his 80s who lived in a senior living community, the TV station reported.
Includes reporting by The Star’s Jason Hancock, Jonathan Shorman and Allison Kite.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 5:42 PM.
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