Rolling average for new COVID-19 cases in Kansas City metro falls below 100
The rolling average for new COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City metropolitan area has dropped below 100.
On Tuesday, the area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 88 new cases for a total of 148,360 cases to date.
The seven-day average for new cases fell to 91, according to data tracked by The Star. One week ago, it sat at 128 and two weeks ago, it was 115. The average has not been below 100 since April 6.
The metro added 17 deaths, the highest daily tally since March 9 when 20 deaths were reported. The spike was in part due to the state of Missouri’s weekly review of death certificates. Across the state, 42 deaths from COVID-19 were added on Tuesday. The metro has recorded a total of 2,211 deaths since the pandemic began.
Johnson County leads the metro in vaccinations, with 46.3% of its residents fully vaccinated. That’s followed by Platte County at 34.1%, Jackson County at 32.9%, Clay County at 31.9% and Wyandotte County at 29.2%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Three patients at The University of Kansas Health System had the virus, down from seven on Monday. None of the patients were in the intensive care unit or on ventilators.
All three patients came to the hospital for reasons not related to COVID-19, but tested positive during admissions screenings.
“Our numbers are at levels we haven’t seen in a very long time,” said chief medical officer Steve Stites.
Stites said health officials will be watching the trends over the next few weeks as places like Kauffman Stadium return to full capacity.
On Tuesday, Missouri confirmed 509,914 total cases including 9,062 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 3.9%.
The state has administered 4,462,679 vaccine doses, with 41.1% of the population initiating vaccination. Missouri has received 5,816,575 doses, the CDC reported.
Kansas reported 313,274 total cases including 5,058 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 2.8%.
The state has distributed 2,750,240 vaccine doses. Of those, 2,146,538 have been administered, with 41.4% of the population initiating vaccination.
Across the country, more than 33.1 million people have contracted the virus and 590,586 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
