December caps 2020 as Kansas City metro’s deadliest month of COVID-19 pandemic by far
The Kansas City metropolitan area recorded 342 COVID-19 deaths in December, making it by far the deadliest month of the pandemic.
Roughly 11 people died every day from the virus across the metro this month.
A total of 1,353 residents from Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas have died from the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March.
As of Wednesday, the metro had recorded a total of 109,539 cases.
“The overall death rate’s just a reflection of the overall infectivity rate,” said Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System. “When you have more widespread community transmission, more people getting sick from the virus, more people hospitalized, you’re going to have more deaths.”
For months, health officials have urged individuals across the metro to wear masks and practice social distancing as the number of cases and hospitalizations in the area began to ramp up in the fall.
The seven-day average for new daily cases hit a record high on Nov. 22 at 1,199 (November also previously recorded the highest number of virus-related deaths with 227).
Hospitalizations have tended to lag behind infections by about two weeks, and deaths lag behind hospitalizations, said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health system.
“We are still seeing some of the effect that large steep increase,” he said.
Of the jurisdictions in the metro, Johnson County has recorded the most deaths at 447. Kansas City followed at 352, and then Jackson County at 239, Wyandotte County at 194, Clay County at 98 and Platte County at 23.
Nearly half of the COVID-19 deaths reported in December — 158 of the 342 — were in Johnson County.
“The increase in deaths appears to be directly attributable to the increase in cases throughout our county,” said Johnson County’s epidemiology director Elizabeth Holzschuh. “Deaths have occurred both in and outside of long-term care facility residents and across age groups.”
Recent spikes, including 17 deaths reported Tuesday, were attributed to a lag in reporting over the holiday weekend, she said. Of the 20 deaths in the metro reported Wednesday, 12 were in Johnson County.
Stites noted that Johnson County’s COVID-19 restrictions were softer than in other areas of the metro. In November, as the number of cases spiked and hospitals became alarmed about their capacity to care for the number of patients, Kansas City and Jackson, Wyandotte, Clay and Platte counties limited indoor gatherings to 10 people. Restaurants were ordered to operate at 50% capacity and close at 10 p.m.
The guidelines approved by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners were less stringent. Gatherings were capped at 50 people, restaurants weren’t placed under capacity restrictions and required to close by midnight. The order was a weaker version than what had been recommended by the county’s health officer.
The first person to die from the disease in the metro was a man in his 70s in Wyandotte County. His death was reported March 12.
Over the summer, the metro was recording an average of about 70 virus deaths every month. That number jumped in September when 172 deaths were reported and has continued to increase. In October, there were 212 deaths and in November there were 227.
The seven-day average for daily deaths peaked Christmas Eve at 13.
