KC metro adds more than 500 new COVID-19 cases as U.S. surpasses 8 million cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 500 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths on Friday.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 519 coronavirus cases for a total of 45,912 to date.
The seven-day rolling average for new cases was 433. One week ago, it was 325. Two weeks ago, it was 320, according to data maintained by The Star.
The seven-day positive test rate was 14.9% in Kansas City, 18.4% in Jackson County, 15.49% in Clay County and 17.39% in Platte County.
The two-week positive test rate, excluding repeat tests, was 10.9% in Johnson County.
The overall positive test rate was 17.3% in Wyandotte County.
One death was reported in Kansas City and two were recorded in Johnson County, raising the metro’s total to 648.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 26 patients hospitalized for the virus, down one from Thursday. Of those, 11 are in the intensive care unit with eight using ventilators. One person is on an ECMO machine, which is used to replace heart and lung functions, the health system said.
On Friday, Missouri reported 152,571 cases to date, including 2,459 deaths. The positive test rate was 18.3%, according to the state.
Kansas has confirmed 70,855 cases, including 859 deaths. There have been a total of 3,370 hospitalizations and there are 241 active clusters, accounting for more than 8,000 cases and 154 deaths, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Across the country, more than 8 million people have contracted the virus and 218,097 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
