‘We are less happy, less optimistic’: KU Health System sees uptick in virus patients
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 400 new COVID-19 cases as one local hospital saw an uptick in patients being treated for the virus.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 408 cases for a total of 113,599 to date.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 70 virus patients, up from 56 Dec. 30 when they last gave an update.
“Since that time though I would say we are less happy, less optimistic,” said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. “That’s kind of concerning.”
The increase may in part be due to gatherings over the holidays, he said.
Of the hospital’s 70 patients, 38 are in the intensive care unit with 15 on ventilators.
The seven-day average for new cases in the metro was 855. One week ago, it was 725 and two weeks ago it was 852, according to data maintained by The Star.
One new death, in Johnson County, was reported Monday. Johnson County has recorded the most deaths of the jurisdictions in the metro with 456. There have been 356 virus deaths in Kansas City, 245 in Jackson County, 198 in Wyandotte County, 98 in Clay County and 23 in Platte County. The metro has recorded a total of 1,376 deaths.
On Monday, Missouri reported 402,957 cases including 5,562 deaths. There are currently 2,448 hospitalizations with 25% of ICU beds remaining. The seven-day positive test rate was 19.5%.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 235,375 vaccine doses have been distributed throughout Missouri with 91,817 doses administered.
Kansas confirmed 231,317 cases including 2,897 deaths. There were 662 hospitalizations with 40% of ICU beds available. The monthly positive test rate was 13.8%.
There have been 131,750 vaccine doses distributed with 20,110 administered, the CDC said.
Across the country, more than 20.7 million people have contracted the virus and 352,620 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 3:20 PM.
