KC metro adds 26 deaths, over 300 COVID-19 cases as rolling average continues to rise
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 300 COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths Tuesday.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 331 coronavirus cases for a total of 47,278 to date.
Since dropping below 300 in mid-September, the seven-day average for new cases has been climbing. On Oct. 1, it was 349. The seven-day average for new cases is now 456, the highest it’s been since Aug. 3, according to data maintained by The Star.
“The rolling seven-day average is definitely going in the wrong direction and has been now for the last four to five weeks,” said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health System.
The seven-day positive test rate on Tuesday was 15.67% in Kansas City, 18.32% in Jackson County, 18.02% in Clay County and 18.67% in Platte County.
The two week rate in Johnson County, excluding repeat testing, was 12.1%.
The overall rate was 17.4% in Wyandotte County.
Zero deaths were reported Sunday and Monday, but 26 were identified Tuesday. Eight were in Kansas City, five were in Johnson County and 13 were in Wyandotte County, raising the metro’s total to 680.
The University of Kansas Health System said 27 patients were hospitalized for the virus, down five from Monday. Of the 27, 11 are in the intensive care unit with seven requiring ventilators.
On Tuesday, Missouri reported 159,625 cases including 2,615 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 21.1%, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Kansas has at least 72,968 cases including 872 deaths. There have been a total of 3,421 hospitalizations and there are currently 241 active clusters that have caused more than 8,000 cases, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Across the country, more than 8.2 million people have contracted the virus and 220,649 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
