For the second time this week, KC metro adds record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area added a record-breaking 685 new COVID-19 cases, breaking the previous record of 643 set two days ago.
Five more deaths were also reported 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 19,119 cases.
Kansas City gained 244 new cases, while 232 were added in Jackson County, 31 were in Clay County, 12 were in Platte County, 64 were in Johnson County and 102 were in Wyandotte County.
Thursday was the third consecutive day in which more than 600 cases were added.
The seven-day rolling average for new cases is 507. One week ago, it was 431. Two weeks ago, it was 290.
Three of the five recent deaths were in Wyandotte County while two were in Johnson County, raising the metro’s total to 318.
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System urged people to practice three pillars of infection control.
“The mask in general, if you’re not in a healthcare setting, is to protect other people from you — it’s to provide a barrier in case you are ill and you don’t know it,” said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health system. “But the mask, even the cloth mask, can provide some protection against the droplets and the virus as well. The other thing is obviously, social or physically distancing. The World Health Organization says 3 feet or more, the CDC says 6 feet or more ... and then of course, adequate hand hygiene.”
On Thursday, Missouri reported 48,834 cases including 1,233 deaths. The positive test rate was 6.8%.
Kansas, which last updated its numbers Wednesday, has at least 26,870 cases including 349 deaths. The positive test rate was 9.4%.
Across the U.S., more than 4.4 million people have contracted the virus and more than 151,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
