Kansas City metro sees largest one-day jump in coronavirus cases with 104
As some parts of the Kansas City metro prepare to reopen Monday, the area saw its biggest jump in new coronavirus cases with 104 reported Thursday.
There have been 2,111 cases identified across Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.
Across the metro, 124 people have died.
More than half of Thursday’s increase was attributed to 58 new cases in Wyandotte County.
One reason for the rise in positive cases is increased testing capacity, said Janell Friesen, spokeswoman for the Unified Government’s public health department. More tests are being run at the health department, pop-up locations and other health organizations.
The county also has seen additional cases tied to outbreaks, Friesen said. Ten locations have been identified as cluster sites.
A case confirmed Thursday was linked to the House of Guadalupe Convent where five cases have been found, according to county data.
One of the state’s most severe clusters has infected dozens of people at Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation in Kansas City, Kansas, where 32 residents have died. The facility has been linked to 105 resident cases and 27 staff cases, according to Friesen.
Kansas City accounted for another 25 of Thursday’s new cases. Kansas City Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Pekarsky said health officials haven’t identified a specific cause, but that often numbers depended on the amount of case data entry on a given day.
Jackson and Johnson counties both increased by 10 and Clay County added one new case.
Until Thursday, the metro had not recorded a triple-digit jump. The largest one-day increase previously had been March 31 when 99 new cases were reported.
On Wednesday, 61 new cases were reported.
The first COVID-19 case in the area was announced March 7 in Johnson County.
One month ago, the metro had identified 391 cases.
Stay-at-home orders covering Clay and Platte counties will expire at 11:59 p.m. May 3.
Kansas’ statewide order also expires at the end of May 3, but on Thursday, Johnson County announced it would extend its countywide restrictions through May 10. Wyandotte County, the hardest-hit county in Kansas with 677 cases, is expected to make an announcement about its order this week.
Jackson County and Kansas City are set to remain under lockdown until May 15.
Statewide, Kansas reported 4,238 cases including 129 deaths as of Thursday. A total of 31,626 people in the state have been tested, and people have tested positive at a rate of more than 13%. The positive rate has steadily increased as more tests have been run.
Missouri said it had 7,562 cases including 329 deaths. A total of 80,687 people in Missouri have been tested, and residents have tested positive at a rate of about 9%
Missouri has reported more cases than Kansas, but has also tested more people.
The Star’s Laura Bauer contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 3:21 PM.
