Kansas City metro adds 65 new COVID-19 cases, surpassing 4,000 total cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area surpassed 4,000 coronavirus cases on Friday.
The area including Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, added 65 new cases, bringing the total to 4,033.
One more death was recorded Friday, in Platte County.
This week, the metro area added 63 new cases on Monday, 54 on Tuesday, 50 on Wednesday and 85 on Thursday.
Of the areas within the metro, Wyandotte County had the most new cases Friday with 22, bringing its total to 1,329.
Allen Greiner, medical officer for Wyandotte County, said minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.
“With COVID, we know minorities are more exposed because they’re living in more densely populated areas. There’s really good research showing that historical housing segregation has caused some problems like this,” he said during a media briefing with the University of Kansas Health System.
Other causes, Greiner said, include “multi-generational households where people get exposed to each other..., higher use of public transportation, higher involvement in essential industries.”
The area has reported 184 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began. About 40% have been in Wyandotte County.
On Friday, Missouri reported 12,795 cases. Of those, there have been 648 hospitalizations and 738 deaths.
Kansas confirmed 9,719 cases. Of those, there have been 842 hospitalizations and 208 deaths.
Nationwide, more than 1.7 million people have contracted the virus and more than 102,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
