New coronavirus cases in the Kansas City area increase for the fourth consecutive day
The Kansas City metropolitan area confirmed 79 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death Saturday, the fourth consecutive day that the number of new cases in the area has increased.
Since the pandemic started, health officials in the area — which includes Jackson, Clay and Platte counties and Kansas City in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas — have confirmed 3,633 cases of the new coronavirus. At least 173 people in the area have died from the virus according to state and local health department data.
Cases rose at an increasing rate this week. Thirty-three new cases were reported on Monday, 30 on Tuesday, 45 on Wednesday, 62 on Thursday and 77 on Friday.
The increases reported Friday and Saturday were the highest the area has seen since 96 new cases were reported on May 8.
The largest increases in the area Saturday were seen in Kansas City, where 24 new cases were reported, and Wyandotte County, where 28 new cases were reported.
The death reported Saturday was the second in Clay County.
Wyandotte County is still reporting the highest number of cases in the metro with 1,233 cases of the rapidly spreading virus. Multiple outbreaks have been reported in the county connected to nursing homes, food plants and churches according to county data.
On Saturday, Missouri adjusted its data for testing for the virus. In a news release, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said the state data had been conflating viral tests, which determine if a person is currently infected, and antibody tests, which check whether a person has ever had the virus. As of Saturday the state is reporting those figures separately, meaning a higher percentage of viral tests are positive than were previously reported.
The CDC told the New York Times Friday that it plans to work toward similar measures with nationwide data.
In Missouri 11,752 people have been infected with COVID-19 and 672 have died. Of the 148,303 individuals who received viral tests, 7.9% were infected, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Nationwide, the virus has infected More than 1.6 million people, killing more than 96,000 according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
