‘A grim milestone’: University of Kansas Health System exceeds 500 COVID-19 deaths

The University of Kansas Health System said it “observed a grim milestone” Tuesday when it released the latest update on COVID-19 numbers for the system.

Three patients died of COVID Monday, bringing the total to 503 since the pandemic began. Thirteen people died in less than a week.

Steve Stites, chief medical officer, noted in the health system’s regular daily update that the hospital’s numbers for COVID patients on Labor Day this year were much higher than a year ago.

And, he worries about this fall with loosened restrictions and vaccination rates that are not high enough, especially with religious holidays such as Rosh Hashana and big crowds at Chiefs games and other events.

“We’re already really open again, our case volumes are already much higher and schools have opened back up again,” Stites said. “I think what we just have to recognize is that we’re probably at greater risk this year than last year with the saving grace being (the vaccine).”

He said 98 percent of the patients who die are unvaccinated.

Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at the health system, said vaccinated patients who die have comorbidities such as lung and heart disease and are immunosuppressed.

Of the 59 active COVID-19 patients being treated Monday at KU, 10 were fully vaccinated.

“The answer to a safe fall is vaccination rates. If we can get more people vaccinated, we’ll be a lot better off,” Stites said.

He pointed to South America as an example of the effectiveness of vaccines. The COVID rate is way down there, he said, because there is no “mask fight” and the vaccination rate is 70 percent.

In the Kansas City metropolitan area, 37 deaths were added over the past week, raising the metro’s total to 2,595 since the pandemic began.

As of Friday, the last day numbers were updated, Kansas confirmed 377,123 total cases including 5,630 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 10.1%.

In Kansas, 46.1% of the population was fully vaccinated as of Friday.

Missouri reported 641,493 total cases, including 10,660 deaths as of Wednesday. The seven-day positive test rate was 11.2%.

The state has 45.7% of its population fully inoculated.

Across the country, more than 40 million people have contracted COVID-19 and 649,271 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Star’s Anna Spoerre contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 4:28 PM.