KC metro adds nearly 300 new COVID-19 cases as area hospital reports more ICU patients
The Kansas City metropolitan area gained nearly 300 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday as doctors at one area hospital said they were growing increasingly concerned about the number of patients requiring intensive care.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties on the Kansas side, has 14,407 coronavirus cases.
Kansas City added 115 of the metro’s 296 new cases. Jackson County added 34, Clay County added 16, Platte County added five, Johnson County added 77 and Wyandotte County added 49.
The metro’s seven day rolling average is 362. One week ago, it was 295. On July 1, it was 204.
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System reported they had 36 patients being treated for COVID-19, the same number as Monday.
“Unfortunately of those 36, 16 are in the ICU,” said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health system. “We still have six on vents which is really the more concerning thing because we were at least happier when we only had two people on the vents, meaning that there’s probably more otherwise healthy patients who are not needing critical care services and being able to have shortened hospitalizations.”
Ten were in the ICU on Monday.
Two new deaths were reported Tuesday in the metro, both of which were in Kansas City, bringing the area’s total to 290.
Missouri reported 34,762 cases including 1,143 deaths. The positive test rate was 5.7%. From Monday to Tuesday, more than 1,100 new cases were confirmed.
Missouri was one of 10 states added Tuesday to a New York travel advisory. According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, anyone from Missouri must quarantine for 14 days if they travel to New York.
Kansas was already on the list.
The state, which last updated its numbers Monday, has at least 23,334 cases including 307 deaths. The positive test rate was 8.9%.
“We are one of the worst states in this country,” said Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “Ever since late May when the counties and cities opened up their doors to party like it’s 2019, it’s gone downhill and it’s getting worse and we know how to fix it. Public health cannot fix this. This is what the communities have to fix.”
Across the country, more than 3.8 million people have contracted the virus and more that 141,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
