KC metro adds more than 400 COVID-19 cases for third straight day, but no new deaths
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 400 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, but no new deaths were reported.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 416 new cases for a total of 29,748 to date.
The two-week positive test rate was 12.4% in Kansas City, 16.99% in Jackson County and 10.6% in Johnson County.
The overall positive test rate was 8.21% in Clay County, 8.92% in Platte County and 18.5% in Wyandotte County.
The metro added 234 cases on Monday, 206 on Tuesday, 474 on Wednesday and 423 on Thursday.
The two-week rolling average for new cases was 378. One week ago, it was 331. Two weeks ago, it was 388.
The University of Kansas Health System said its hospital was treating 27 patients for the coronavirus, down two from Thursday. Of the 27, four were in the intensive care unit, a decrease of six.
Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health system, said “non-pharmaceutical interventions” such as hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask are effective measures to practice.
“We’ve really tried to tell you and change the culture of just thinking that the virus is out there,” he said. “And it’s not because of fear, but because of knowledge.”
Wyandotte County health officials said they would not change local testing recommendations despite new testing guidance from the CDC, which said people without symptoms do not need to get tested.
Wyandotte County chief epidemiologist Elizabeth Groenweghe said anyone who has been around a person who is positive should get tested.
“It’s really important to make sure that we’re identifying as many COVID cases as we can,” she said. “By identifying those cases, we can make sure that they’re taking all the proper precautions to prevent the spread of COVID. It’s really kind of the foundation of controlling any kind of infectious disease.”
No deaths were reported Friday. A total of 396 people in the KC metro area have died from COVID-19 since March 12, when the first virus death was confirmed in Wyandotte County.
On Friday, Missouri reported 80,992 cases to date, including 1,464 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 12.3%. The overall rate was 8.4%.
Kansas has confirmed 41,048 cases, including 443 deaths. The overall positive test rate was 10.2%.
Across the country, more than 5.8 million people have contracted the virus and 181,186 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
