Kansas City metro records 27 more COVID-19 deaths, adds nearly 900 new virus cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area added nearly 900 new COVID-19 cases and 27 deaths on Tuesday.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 895 cases for a total of 108,508 to date.
The seven-day average for daily new cases was 754. One week ago, the average was 850. Two weeks ago, it was 974.
The jump in the number of deaths is in part due to Missouri’s weekly review of death certificates. Kansas City recorded one new death, Jackson County had five, while Clay and Platte counties each reported two.
Johnson County in Kansas, however, saw a spike with 17 deaths recorded Tuesday. It has the most deaths of the jurisdictions within the metro at 435. The metro’s total sits at 1,333.
The University of Kansas Health System said it had 58 patients being treated for the virus, up two from Monday. Of the 58 patients, 26 were in the intensive care unit with 20 on ventilators.
“A high proportion of our ICU patients are on the ventilator,” said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health system. “But I think overall, the numbers are much better than we had seen two to three, four weeks ago which we are happy about.”
Hawkinson received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine during the health system’s briefing, which is broadcast daily.
“I feel great,” Hawkinson said moments after getting the shot.
The health system said the rollout of the vaccine has been going smoothly and that patients who experienced side effects reported they were resolved within 48 hours.
On Tuesday, Missouri confirmed 386,095 cases including 5,433 deaths. There were 2,540 hospitalizations with 27% of ICU beds remaining. The seven-day positive test rate was 16.9%.
Kansas reported 216,062 cases including 2,548 deaths. There were 554 hospitalizations with 36% of ICU beds available. The monthly positive test rate was 12.9%.
Across the country, more than 19.4 million people have contracted the virus and 336,325 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 2:34 PM.
