Kansas City metro adds more than 140 COVID cases as rolling average continues rise
The Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 140 new COVID-19 cases as the rolling average increased for the fourth consecutive day.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 144 cases for a total of 140,329 cases to date.
The 144 new cases includes positive results from over the weekend in Johnson and Wyandotte County, which stopped updating their data on Saturdays and Sundays earlier this month.
The seven-day average for new cases increased to 118. For several weeks, the average had dropped to levels not seen since June. One week ago, the average sat at 99. Two weeks ago, it was 158, according to data maintained by The Star. However the rolling average for new cases has been on the rise the past four days, once again surpassing an average of more than 100 new cases per day.
One new death, in Johnson County, was reported Monday, raising the metro’s total to 2,055.
The University of Kansas Health System had 11 patients being treated for the virus, up from eight on Friday. Three were in the intensive care unit with one on a ventilator.
Chief medical officer Steve Stites said there are growing concerns about another wave of the virus.
“We’ve kind of bent, maybe at times even squashed the curve,” Stites said during the health system’s daily briefing. “But now I’m a little nervous because I know a lot of people are headed down to Spring Break in Florida, mask requirements seem to be lessening a little, and the variants are out there, and we don’t have everybody vaccinated yet.”
On Monday, Kansas confirmed 298,218 cases including 4,835 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 2.7%.
The state has distributed 1,173,280 doses of the vaccine and administered 854,997 doses, covering 19.5% of the population, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said.
Missouri reported 483,748 cases including 8,310 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 4.5%.
The state has administered 1,787,499 doses of the vaccine, covering 19.1% of the population, the Department of Health and Senior Services said. Missouri has received 2,415,805 doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Across the country, more than 29.4 million people have contracted the virus and 535,176 have died. Globally, more than 120 million people have been infected, according to Johns Hopkins University.
