‘Uncontrolled spread’: Kansas City metro adds more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday as The University of Kansas Health System began postponing scheduled surgeries.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, as well as Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 1,035 cases for a total of 63,172.
Johnson County added 455 of the new cases which broke Tuesday’s record of 404.
The seven-day average for new cases in the metro is 1,015. One week ago, it was 695. Two weeks ago, it was 455.
“If you look at the numbers in Kansas City, we are on an exponential curve,” said Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System. “That’s a really rapid rise.”
Two more deaths were reported Thursday. One was in Jackson County and one was in Johnson County, raising the metro’s total to 866.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 67 patients, down from 78 on Wednesday. Of the 67, 20 are in the intensive care unit and a dozen are using ventilators.
The hospital has started delaying non-emergency surgeries.
“We are deferring cases as of today because of the lack of beds because of the overwhelming numbers of COVID patients,” Stites said. “There’s uncontrolled spread in the community.”
The hospital turned down 40 transfers from smaller hospitals in May. In October, they had to refuse 140.
Stormont Vail Health in Topeka said they were treating 70 patients, surpassing Wednesday’s record of 66. Ninety-eight percent of the hospital’s medical beds are being used.
On Thursday, Missouri confirmed 225,371 cases including 3,339 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate, excluding repeat tests, was 40.8%.
Kansas reported 109,225 cases including 1,215 deaths. There are 810 hospitalizations and 357 active clusters.
Across the country, more than 10.4 million people have contracted the virus and 242,248 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
