KC area adds nearly 500 COVID-19 cases as average for new cases climbs to record high
Nearly 500 new COVID-19 cases were identified Monday in the Kansas City metropolitan area, as the seven-day average continues to rise to a record breaking level.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, as well as Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 499 cases for a total of 53,858.
The seven-day average for new cases hit its highest yet at 608. One week ago, it was 379. Two weeks ago, it was 429.
The increase is a concern, said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System.
“Our seven-day rolling average has continued to increase now for several weeks,” he said.
The positive test rate was 23.07% in Kansas City, 24.34% in Jackson County, 25.64% in Clay County and 22.08% in Platte County, according to data from the state of Missouri.
The two-week rate, excluding repeat tests, was 17.7% in Johnson County.
The overall rate was 17.6% in Wyandotte County.
Nine new deaths were recorded Monday, raising the metro’s total to 793.
The University of Kansas Health System reported its hospital had 35 patients being treated for the virus, down two from Friday. Fourteen are in the intensive care unit with eight on ventilators.
Raghu Adiga, chief medical officer at Liberty Hospital, said throughout most of the pandemic, the hospital has typically had a maximum of 15 COVID-19 patients.
On Monday, there were 31, ranging in age from 32 to 100.
“The numbers have certainly gone up,” Adiga said. “When people don’t take COVID seriously, our hospitals and schools and businesses have to pay the consequences, so we really need to pay attention to wearing masks and social distancing and more importantly now, avoiding gathering as the holidays are coming.”
Mark Steele, Truman Medical center chief clinical officer, said the hospital peaked at 36 patients in previous months and had 23 on Monday.
The overall mortality rate has declined to 4.2%, but September and October saw nine deaths whereas March and April had four at the hospital. The youngest person to die was 27, Steele said.
Larry Botts, chief medical officer at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, said they have seen more patients for issues not related to the coronavirus in the past month.
“Intermittently, we have been experiencing some capacity issues,” Botts said.
On Monday, Missouri reported 188,186 cases including 3,031 deaths. The positive test rate, excluding repeat tests, was 28.8%.
Kansas confirmed 89,227 cases including 1,046 deaths. There are currently 373 hospitalizations and 261 outbreak locations.
Across the country, more than 9.2 million people have contracted the virus and 231,227 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 3:30 PM.
