New COVID-19 cases on the decline as Kansas City metro surpasses 3,000 deaths
Despite continuing to see a decline in the rolling average for new COVID-19 cases, the Kansas City metropolitan area passed a grim milestone in the number of people dying from the disease, according to data released by health officials.
On Tuesday, the area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas, reported five new COVID-19 related deaths for a total of 3,005 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The metro area also gained gained 227 new cases for a total of 198,692 cases to date.
The seven-day rolling average for daily cases continued to fall to 266, according to data tracked by The Star. One week ago, the average was 322. It was 492 one month ago.
During the past week, the metro area added 1,868 new cases. During the previous week, the area gained 2,326 new cases and the week before, 2,794 were identified.
The number of patients hospitalized with the active virus at the University of Kansas Health System held steady Tuesday at 15, which was equal to the day before. Eight of those patients were in the intensive care unit, up from six on Monday. Five of those patients were on ventilators.
Although Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the health system, said he is cautiously optimistic by the lower COVID patient numbers, more vaccinations are needed to prevent a surge in the virus for the holidays.
The average age of unvaccinated patients in the hospital is about ten years younger than vaccinated patients, he said Tuesday during a daily medical briefing.
Preventative measures are are the best way to stay healthy, including recommended vaccinations for influenza, pneumonia, shingles, tetanus and COVID, he said.
“You still continue to roll the dice any time you get the infection, but the best measure to protect yourself against hospitalization, severe disease, continues to be those preventive measures, especially vaccinations,” Hawkinson said.
On Tuesday, Kansas reported 419,341 total cases including 6,142 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 7.9%.
Forty-nine percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated.
Missouri identified 688,418 total cases including 11,699 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 7.8%.
Across the state, 48.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
In the United States, more than 44.5 million people have contracted COVID-19 and 715,078 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 4:02 PM.
