Kansas City area continued to see uptick in COVID-19 cases as holiday approached
The rolling average of new COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City area continued to increase for the third consecutive week, fueled in part by a change in the way Missouri is reporting data.
As of Tuesday, the seven-day average of new cases was about 525 in the area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, according to data tracked by The Star. The average jumped up from about 326 cases a week ago. A month ago, the average was 230.
A total of 211,342 residents in the metro have been infected with the virus since the pandemic began. That’s up 3,672 from 207,670 total cases reported a week ago and 10,037 from 201,305 total cases reported a month ago.
To date, 3,224 people have died from COVID-19. That’s up 25 from 3,199 total deaths reported a week ago and up 154 from 3,070 total deaths reported a month ago.
Last week, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services updated its COVID-19 dashboard adding new data identifying breakthrough infections among those who are fully vaccinated. The dashboard also added reinfection data among those who previously recovered from COVID-19 and tested positive again after 90 days.
“This data reaffirms what we have been saying for nearly a year. COVID vaccines work very well to prevent hospitalizations and death,” Donald Kauerauf, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a news release.
“The vaccines continue to be an effective tool to protect Missourians from serious illness. This new data being released by DHSS also highlights the importance of receiving boosters when eligible, especially for those of higher risk due to age or health concerns who may not have as strong of an immune response following vaccinations.”
At the time of the update, the way the total count of cases are computed was expanded due to recent updates to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definitions of “probable” cases and deaths.
Previously, the dashboard displayed both confirmed and probable cases. Total cases now include people who meet clinical criteria, were in close contract with a confirmed or probable case but did not have a confirmed positive test, according to the health department. The total count of cases also now represents infections rather than individuals.
On Tuesday, the University of Kansas Health System reported that the number of COVID-19 patients was holding relatively steady with 18 patients with the active virus, down from 19 on Monday. Six patients were in the ICU, with two on ventilators. There were an additional 15 other patients still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but were out of the acute infection phase.
On Wednesday, Missouri reported that it has identified 733,443 infections to date, including 12,520 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 9.5%. About 50.8% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Kansas has reported 458,221 infections to date, including 6,643 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 8.9%.
Statewide, 48.7% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Across the country, nearly 48 million people have contracted COVID-19 and 773,864 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 10:41 AM.
