Kansas City metro records lowest number of daily COVID-19 cases since October, again
The Kansas City metropolitan area recorded fewer than 350 new COVID-19 cases and four new virus-related deaths Saturday, according to area health agencies.
The area, which encompasses Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 348 coronavirus cases, the lowest number of cases gained in a day since Oct. 26, according to data tracked by The Star. The previous low since October was 382 on Jan. 25.
The metro has recorded a total of 132,244 cases to date.
As of Saturday, the weekly average for daily new cases was 549. One week ago it was 533 and two weeks ago the average was 773.
There have been at least 1,699 deaths in the metro attributed to the virus since the pandemic began.
Kansas City gained 81 cases, for a total of 35,521. One more person died of COVID-19 and a total of 440 people have died in the city.
Jackson County added 102 cases, bringing the total to 28,363, but did not record any new deaths, leaving the total at 308.
Clay and Platte counties stand at 124 and 36 deaths, respectively, and neither recorded new deaths on Saturday. Clay County, which has recorded 7,469 cases, added 13 to its total. Platte County, at 2,912 cases, added 16 cases.
On the Kansas side, Johnson County added 104 cases, for a total of 41,033. Two new deaths were recorded, bringing the county’s total to 569.
Wyandotte County, which did not update its data in time for publication on Friday, has added one new death since Thursday, for a total of 222, as well as 69 new cases, bringing the total to 16,946.
Kansas and Missouri health officials have said they are monitoring and testing for variants of the coronavirus.
“I can nearly guarantee that this variant that has an increased transmissibility is here in our community,” said the University of Kansas Health System vice president of performance improvement Dr. David Wild in a recent daily briefing.
Missouri confirmed 457,779 cases and 6,748 deaths to date on Friday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The seven-day positive rate was 9.5%.
The state reported administering 493,021 total doses of the vaccine, which is 6.2% of Missouri’s population. As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 834,700 doses had been distributed to the state and that 408,441 had been administered. Numbers vary, health officials have said, due to a lag in reporting.
On Friday, Kansas confirmed 274,685 cases and 3,779 deaths of COVID-19, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The state’s monthly positive rate was 8.8%.
Kansas, on Friday, reported administering 205,114 doses, which is 5.8% of the state’s population, and distributing 412,375 doses. The CDC, also on Friday, said the state has distributed 412,375 doses and administered 190,540 of them.
More than 25.9 million people have been diagnosed with the virus and more than 437,711 people have died across the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.