KC metro adds fewer than 150 COVID-19 cases as 7-day average continues downward trend
The seven-day rolling average of new coronavirus infections in the Kansas City region continued on a downward trend Sunday, with another 125 cases and no additional deaths reported.
To date, the virus has infected 137,577 residents and killed 1,946 people across the region, which encompasses Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.
In the last seven days, the metro reported about 1,440 new infections, making the average 206 new cases a day. This time last week, that average was 210. Two weeks ago, it was 317. The highest average yet came Nov. 22 at 1,199.
On Friday, Kansas City officials announced they were loosening virus-related restrictions. Restaurants must still space parties 6 feet apart, but they can serve as close to their normal capacities as that distancing allows.
Now on the other side of the holiday season and the Super Bowl, the Kansas City metro has seen weeks of decline in new COVID-19 cases.
“We got through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Chiefs’ Super Bowl run, and we’re proud of the fact that our stricter regulations made sure that our region stayed safer,” Lucas said at a news conference in the City Council chamber last week. “We said then these restrictions were meant to get us through a very tough time, and they did.”
Restaurants are now also allowed to stay open for normal business hours. Capacity had previously been capped at 50% with restaurants and bars closing at midnight.
Across Missouri, 474,997 residents to date have been infected by COVID-19, including 7,715 who have died. Within the last seven days, the state’s positive test rate was 6.7%
A total of 1,024,449 doses have been administered across the state, covering 11.4% of the population, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
When it released data Friday, Kansas reported 290,832 infections and 4,614 deaths to date. The monthly positive test rate was 5.1%.
The state has distributed 581,975 doses of vaccine with 456,093 administered, covering 11.1% of the population, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Nationwide, the virus has infected more than 28 million people, killing more than 498,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
