Two months after first coronavirus death in KC metro, death toll has climbed to 150
Two more COVID-19 deaths were reported Tuesday in the Kansas City metropolitan area, bringing the total to 150.
The first death was announced two months ago when a man in Wyandotte County died.
The deaths reported Tuesday were in Johnson County.
Eleven new cases of the coronavirus were also reported in the metro. Numbers from the Kansas side are incomplete.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas has identified 3,038 cases.
This week, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said it would provide updated numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Current figures for Johnson and Wyandotte counties were not available Tuesday from the state.
On Sunday, 56 new cases were reported in the metro. On Monday, there were 71 new cases.
Jackson, Johnson and Wyandotte began loosening restrictions Monday. Kansas City’s order will be further eased on Friday.
“I think we have to assume and plan that there will be more infections as more restrictions are lessening,” Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said during a briefing hosted by the University of Kansas Health System.
Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the health system, said it comes down to personal responsibility.
“If we can wash our hands, stay six feet away, cough into your elbow, don’t go out if you’re sick ... and when you can, wear a mask,” he said. “When you do all of those things, you do really improve things.”
As of Monday, Kansas had 7,116 cases including 158 deaths.
On Tuesday, Missouri confirmed 10,006 cases including 524 deaths.
Nationwide, more than 1.3 million people have contracted the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
