KC metro saw uncontrolled COVID-19 spread in last 3 months. Here’s where we are now
In three months, the Kansas City metropolitan area has added more than 50,000 COVID-19 cases in what is now deemed by public health experts as an uncontrolled spread of the virus.
On Sept. 1, there were 30,996 cases and the seven-day average for new cases sat at 366.
Schools and colleges navigated how to resume classes safely. Some opted to begin the semester remotely. Others returned to the classrooms and many used a hybrid model.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tested positive for the virus on Sept. 23. At the time, the state had recorded nearly 117,000 cases.
On Oct. 1, the metro reported 40,265 cases and the seven-day average was 349.
A rising number of hospitalizations became more concerning by the middle of the month.
On Oct. 14, eight hospitals in the metro reported such high volumes that they temporarily stopped accepting ambulances, according to an official at Saint Luke’s.
“We’re bursting at the seams in the metropolitan area, and really across the state and the region,” said Marc Larsen, operations director of Saint Luke’s COVID Response team.
In November, the situation drastically worsened, with record after record being broken. The beginning of the month started with 53,359 cases and a seven-day average of 585.
On Nov. 14, the metro added 1,335 cases, an all time daily high. The seven-day average for new cases peaked Nov. 22 at 1,199.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced on Nov. 18 a statewide mask mandate. Her second attempt at such a mandate was more widely received than the one issued in July. At least 62 of the state’s 105 counties have adopted the order.
On Nov. 20, new restrictions aimed at quelling the spread of the virus went into effect in Kansas City. Mayor Quinton Lucas said that gatherings were capped at 10 and restaurants had to operate at 50%. Similar rules were implemented in Jackson, Clay, Platte and Wyandotte counties. Despite having more cases than any other jurisdiction in the metro, Johnson County adopted looser restrictions.
Hospitals across Kansas and Missouri faced increasingly dire capacity and staffing issues.
“As we can see, the Kansas map is on fire,” Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System said on Nov. 18. “And so is Missouri. And all of us are being affected so much right now by COVID that we are having to do all sorts of things — open up alternative care areas, take some of our post-anesthesia recovery areas and turn them into hospital beds for patients to be in. We just don’t have enough beds. We’re opening up more ICUs. We’re in the midst of that crisis.”
The metro area surpassed 1,000 deaths on Thanksgiving.
As the number of cases continued to surge, several area school districts decided to move classes online after the Thanksgiving holiday. The University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Kansas and Kansas State University also switched to virtual learning.
A record 227 deaths were reported in the area during November, overtaking the 212 reported in October.
On Monday, The University of Kansas Health System reported a record 102 patients.
November came to a close with 82,582 cases in the metro and a seven-day average for new cases of 954.
Kansas confirmed 157,446 cases including 1,560 deaths while Missouri reported 299,762 cases including 3,829 deaths.
Doctors at the health system said the impact of Thanksgiving will be apparent by mid-December.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
