COVID-19 update: Cass County reports first death; 2 KCPD staff members test positive
Cass County reported its first death from COVID-19 Wednesday, as local public health officials said a Belton woman in her 70s who tested positive for the new coronavirus March 20 has died.
The Cass County Health Department said it was notified of the death Tuesday.
On Wednesday, more new COVID-19 cases were reported in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, and the Kansas City Police Department said two staff members, including a patrol officer, tested positive.
“We have enacted our procedures, including quarantining those who had direct contact with the members,” said Capt. David Jackson, a spokesman for the department. “We are all aware that the key to reducing the spread of the virus is to limit further exposure. The members are home and we look forward to their return to work once the virus runs its course.”
Sixteen staff members were in quarantine as a precaution, but that number could change, Jackson said.
““We, in conjunction with the health department, will investigate if anyone was exposed to the members that tested positive,” Jackson said.
Around the metro area on the first day of the month, many are finding that the coronavirus pandemic has pushed them to the financial brink.
Rent is due, but cash has dried up
Workers who have been laid off, furloughed or had hours reduced are facing the first of the month on April 1, when rent and bills are due.
Countless workers face the financial brink as they make tough choices on which bills to pay now, which ones to set aside and how to put food on the table. Thousands across Kansas City are expected to be unable to pay their rent.
Cayli Beer has never missed the $807 rent payment on her two-bedroom apartment in Gladstone, Mo. But this might be the first month after the Mexican restaurant where she works cut her hours significantly. Her roommate is completely out of work.
“Obviously it’s impossible to pay rent when I make $80 a week and she brings home nothing,” said 21-year-old Beer. ”We really have no idea what we’re going to do.”
They are not alone. For the week ending March 21, more than 42,000 Missourians and nearly 24,000 Kansans filed initial unemployment claims — a massive surge.
And while the $2 trillion relief packaged signed into law last week will provide a one-time, $1,200 check to American workers making up to $75,000 a year, that cash won’t land in bank accounts and mail boxes for at least two to three weeks.
Kansas City retail and restaurants are also seeking rent relief as monthly bills and rents are coming due for mom-and-pop operations as well as big chains that have little or no revenue coming in.
More new cases of COVID-19 reported
Both Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas each reported more than a dozen additional cases of the new coronavirus, according to statistics released Wednesday morning by local health officials.
No new deaths was reported by either county.
In Johnson County, 17 new cases were reported, raising the total number in the county to at least 144. Three deaths have been reported in the county since the pandemic began. More than 1,340 people in the county tested negative for the coronavirus, according to local health officials.
Meanwhile, Wyandotte County reported 17 new cases, raising the county’s total to 92. Twenty-eight patients in the county have been hospitalized and there have been four deaths, according to local health officials.
The county has also received 141 responses to its self-reporting system where people can report their symptoms. Health officials said 52 of those people probably have COVID-19 but have not been tested. That’s a jump from just 38 probable cases from Tuesday.
The people who have been determined to be a probable case have been told to isolate at home just like someone who has tested positive for the disease.
UMKC delayed notifying campus that student had COVID-19
After learning a law student tested positive for COVID-19, the University of Missouri-Kansas City waited four days before alerting the campus, said the mother of the patient, who is in pulmonary intensive care at a hospital.
In addition, one of the student’s professors insisted she come in for an in-person meeting, even though the university had switched to online-only classes. The student had requested a teleconference saying she wasn’t feeling well, the mother, Louise Lynch, told The Star.
“I called the chancellor,” Lynch said. “I left a voice message. I told the chancellor my daughter tested positive.”
Four days later, on March 25, the university announced in a campus notice that a student had tested positive for the disease without mentioning she is a law school student and was last on campus March 16.
In a statement to The Star, UMKC officials said privacy concerns prevented them from providing more details to the campus community. They university relies on the Kansas City Health Department to notify people who may have come in contact with an infected person.
