‘On the precipice of becoming Springfield’: KC metro adds nearly 750 more COVID cases
The Kansas City metropolitan area added nearly 750 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths on Friday.
The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas gained 748 new cases for a total of 165,339 to date.
Over the past week, the metro added 5,000 more cases. Last week, the area added 3,791 new cases and the week before that, 2,608 new cases were reported.
The seven-day rolling average for new cases was 714, according to data tracked by The Star. One week ago, the average sat at 542 and two weeks ago, it was 373.
In the past seven days, the metro added 32 deaths, raising the total to 2,365 since the pandemic began.
Thirty-two patients were being treated for the virus at The University of Kansas Health System. Of those, 10 were in the intensive care unit with nine on ventilators.
“We know that the absolutely best way to stem the rising tide of COVID-19 from the delta variant is to be vaccinated and to wear a mask,” said chief medical officer Steve Stites.
“The delta variant’s here. We’re on the precipice of becoming Springfield.”
COVID-19 cases began surging early last month in southwest Missouri including Springfield, causing hospitals to fill to record numbers and dozens of deaths.
On Friday, Kansas reported 339,527 total cases to date, including 5,299 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 8.8%.
The state has administered 2,587,774 vaccine doses, with 42.7% of residents fully inoculated.
Missouri has identified 583,415 total cases to date, including 9,819 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 15%.
The state has administered 5,384,130 vaccine doses, with 41.8% of the population fully vaccinated.
About 50% of the country is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Across the country, more than 35.4 million people have contracted COVID-19 and 615,438 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Globally, more than 200 million cases have been reported.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 1:41 PM.
