KC metro adds record 56 COVID-19 deaths as doctors express hope in new administration
The Kansas City metropolitan area added a record 56 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday.
The jump is in part due to Missouri’s weekly review of death certificates which causes a spike in numbers, but 17 of the deaths were identified on the Kansas side of the metro.
Thirty of the deaths were in Kansas City, five were in Jackson County, one was in Clay County, three were in Platte County, eight were in Johnson County and nine were in Wyandotte County.
The previous record for daily deaths was 39, set on Jan. 5.
So far this month, 245 deaths have been reported in the metro, which has recorded a total of 1,611 deaths since the pandemic began.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 647 coronavirus cases for a total of 126,594 to date.
The seven-day average for new cases dropped to 610. One week ago, the average sat at 990 and two weeks ago it was 836, according to data maintained by The Star.
Physicians in the metro said the death toll — which surpassed 400,000 nationally on Tuesday — has been devastating. But they expressed hope that the administration of President Joe Biden, who was inaugurated Wednesday, would be more proactive when it comes to the virus.
“[W]hat we’re all reading from the Biden transition team and the folks he’s naming — who by the way look incredibly well qualified, right — I think there will be a much greater emphasis on wearing masks,” said Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System. “And I think we’re going to see a greater emphasis on the distribution network for vaccines and use of potentially other federal powers for ramping up production even further.”
Mark Steele, chief clinical officer at Truman Medical Center, said he believes the federal government will be more engaged in addressing the pandemic.
The University of Kansas Health System reported 65 patients hospitalized for the virus, down two from Tuesday. Twenty-four were in the intensive care unit with 10 on ventilators.
On Wednesday, Kansas confirmed a total of 263,412 cases and 3,575 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 10.3%.
According to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, 202,225 vaccine doses have been distributed with 129,349 doses administered, which is 3.8% of the state’s population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 263,175 doses had been distributed with 118,434 administered. Numbers vary because of reporting lags, health officials have said.
Missouri reported 441,789 cases to date and 6,561 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 12.4%. The state has received 528,800 doses with 236,254 administered, according to the CDC.
Across the country, more than 24.3 million people have contracted the virus and 403,952 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 3:30 PM.
