7-day average hits record high in KC metro as 1,200 COVID cases added Wednesday
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 1,200 COVID-19 cases Wednesday, pushing the weekly average for new cases to a record level.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, as well as Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 1,258 cases for a total of 70,057.
The seven-day average for new cases reached a record high of 1,131. The average one week ago was 1,015. Two weeks ago, it was 632.
Both Kansas City and Johnson County surpassed 20,000 cases each Wednesday.
Jackson and Clay counties reported two deaths each, raising the metro’s total to 907.
The University of Kansas Health System confirmed a record 85 patients were hospitalized with the virus, including 32 in the intensive care unit. Thirteen are on ventilators.
“As we can see, the Kansas map is on fire,” said chief medical officer Steve Stites. “And so is Missouri. And all of us are being affected so much right now by COVID that we are having to do all sorts of things — open up alternative care areas, take some of our post-anesthesia recovery areas and turn them into hospital beds for patients to be in. We just don’t have enough beds. We’re opening up more ICUs. We’re in the midst of that crisis.”
On Wednesday, Kansas confirmed 128,594 cases including 1,326 deaths. There are currently 1,039 hospitalizations with 32% of ICU beds available. The monthly positive test rate was 19.8%.
Missouri reported 253,473 cases including 3,477 deaths. There are currently 2,453 hospitalizations with 31% of ICU beds available. The seven-day positive test rate, excluding repeat tests, was 43.8%.
Across the country, more than 11.4 million people have contracted the virus and 249,477 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 2:46 PM.
