KC sees 3rd largest jump in COVID cases; full impact of Thanksgiving gatherings looms
While the full impact of Thanksgiving gatherings on the spread of the virus is still several weeks out, the Kansas City metro area saw its third largest jump in new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Another 1,304 people in the Kansas City area have tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase eclipsed only twice before — once on Nov. 19 with 1,321 new cases reported and the other on Nov. 14 with 1,335 new cases.
In total, 92,760 residents have been infected in the region, which encompasses Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.
Nine more people have died from COVID-19 — three from Jackson County and six from Johnson County — bringing the total number of deaths across the Kansas City metro to 1,117 so far.
The University of Kansas Health System reported on Thursday the number of patients is creeping back up, with 93 people hospitalized with the active virus. That’s up from 89 patients on Wednesday. Of those 93, 47 patients are in the ICU with 28 of them on ventilators, up from 26 on Wednesday.
Another 62 patients remained hospitalized because of COVID-19, but are out of the acute infection phase. Six of them remain on ventilators. That’s a total of 155 patients who remained hospital, the health system reported.
“We really won’t know the full effect of Thanksgiving and other major events for probably another few weeks,” said Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the health system, during a morning coronavirus media briefing.
In the last seven days, the region has recorded 7,590 additional infections, bringing the weekly rolling average to 1,084 new infections a day, according to public health data kept by The Star.
A week ago, that average was 872. Two weeks ago, it was 1,098. The highest average yet came Nov. 22 at 1,199.
Across Missouri, 334,704 residents to date have been infected, including 4,450 who have died. In the last seven days, the state’s positive test rate was 18.9%.
In Kansas, the virus has infected 179,803 residents and killed 1,941. The state’s monthly positive test rate was 16.7%.
Nationwide, the virus has infected more than 15.5 million people and killed more than 291,307, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 4:03 PM.
