Kansas City area has 3rd consecutive day of triple-digit rise in new COVID-19 cases
For the third consecutive day, the Kansas City metropolitan area has added more than 100 new coronavirus cases.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, has a total of 4,684 cases.
The metro gained 133 cases Thursday. Seventy-one of the cases were in Kansas City, 20 were in Jackson County, 24 were in Johnson County, 12 were in Wyandotte County, four were in Clay County and two were in Platte County.
The positive test rate ranges from 2.11% in Clay County to 3.96% in Jackson County, 4% in Johnson County, 4.01% in Kansas City and 15.9% in Wyandotte County. The Platte County Health Department does not list this data.
Earlier this week, the Kansas City Health Department said an outbreak had been identified at a paper company. More than 200 cases have been linked to Aspen Paper Products Inc., which is now testing its employees weekly.
Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said that hotspot caused a noticeable uptick in the state’s number of cases.
“The first thing we noticed is that there’s an increase in the Kansas City area,” he said during a briefing Thursday with Gov. Mike Parson. “I was communicating with (Kansas City Health Department director) Rex Archer this morning.”
The metro area has had triple-digit increases six times: once in April, twice in May and three times in June.
One new death was reported, in Johnson County, bringing the metro’s total to 195.
On Thursday, Missouri reported 14,057 cases including 786 deaths. Of the deaths, 75% have been age 70 or older, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Kansas has at least 10,170 cases including 222 deaths. Of the deaths, 59% have been age 75 or older, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Wednesday.
Nationwide, more than 1.8 million people have contracted the coronavirus and more than 107,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 2:36 PM.
