‘I like the trends’: Kansas City metro adds fewer than 500 new COVID-19 cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area added around 450 new COVID-19 cases and 10 virus-related deaths on Thursday.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 456 coronavirus cases for a total of 130,963 to date.
The seven-day average for daily new cases dropped to 523. One week ago, the average was 578 and two weeks ago, it was 911, according to data kept by The Star.
“I like the trends,” said Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System. “I think it’s a race right now with time, the variant and vaccination.”
The health system reported 54 patients hospitalized for the virus, down six from Wednesday. Eleven patients were in the intensive care unit with nine on ventilators.
Five deaths were reported in Kansas City while Clay and Platte counties each recorded one new death. Three more deaths were reported in Johnson County, raising the metro’s total to 1,691.
On Thursday, Missouri confirmed 454,573 cases including 6,725 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 10.2%.
Missouri has administered 423,839 vaccinations which is 5.3% of the state’s population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 822,850 doses had been distributed with 382,552 shots given. Numbers vary due to a lag in reporting, health officials have said.
Kansas reported 272,517 cases including 3,718 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 9.1%.
The state reported that 177,350 doses of the vaccine had been administered, which is 5.1% of the population. A total of 405,550 doses had been distributed with 190,301 administered, the CDC said.
Across the country, more than 25.6 million people have contracted the virus and 431,129 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 2:53 PM.
