Coronavirus
KC metro adds 373 more coronavirus cases as doctors report uptick in younger patients
The Kansas City metropolitan area recorded more than 370 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths on Thursday.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas has a total of 10,522 cases.
The number of new cases rose by 174 on Monday, 209 on Tuesday, 335 on Wednesday and 373 on Thursday.
The seven-day rolling average for new cases sits at 290. One week ago, it was 188. Two weeks ago, it was 153.
Doctors from across the metro said their patients have been younger in recent weeks.
“We are seeing an increase in younger folks requiring hospitalization compared to before,” Mark Steele, chief clinical officer at Truman Medical Centers, said during a briefing hosted by the University of Kansas Health System. “I think this highlights how serious COVID can be no matter your age, but granted it poses higher risk to those who are older or have underlying medical conditions.”
The hospital had 24 patients being treated for COVID-19 on Thursday with two in their 20s and four in their 30s.
While the number of patients at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission has held steady, the positive test rate has increased, said chief medical officer Larry Botts.
“This has been mostly in the younger population. The age of those that are positive has decreased significantly,” Botts said. “That’s probably why we are not seeing quite as many inpatients as those people are less severe for the most part.”
Two to three weeks ago, the positive rate was 4% to 5%. Last week that figure jumped to 12% and was still increasing.
Raghu Adiga, chief medical officer at Liberty Hospital, said a few weeks ago, most of the hospitalized patients were coming from long-term care facilities.
“That has flipped in the last week or so,” he said.
Three of the hospital’s 14 coronavirus patients are in their 30s, and a couple of them have no underlying health issues.
Adiga said the trend speaks to the need for social distancing and wearing masks.
“We’ve let the guard down,” he said.
Two more deaths were reported in Wyandotte County and one additional death was confirmed in Johnson County, raising the metro’s total to 254.
On Thursday, Missouri reported 25,999 cases, including 1,051 deaths. The positive test rate was 5.5%.
Kansas has at least 17,618 cases, including 282 deaths. The positive test rate was 8.5%.
Across the U.S., more than 3 million people have contracted the virus and more than 132,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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