KC area adds 2 new COVID deaths as Fauci refutes Trump’s claim of ‘exaggerated’ numbers
The Kansas City metropolitan area added 571 COVID-19 cases and two more deaths Sunday.
The additional deaths in the metro came the same day that President Donald Trump falsely tweeted that the number of cases and deaths reported in the country are “far exaggerated” because of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, shot down the president’s claims Sunday morning during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
“The deaths are real deaths,” Fauci said. “Go to the hospitals, see what the health care workers are dealing with.”
The Kansas City metro area saw its deadliest month of the pandemic in December with 355 deaths reported.
As of Sunday, 1,375 deaths have been reported across the Kansas City metro area. Both of Sunday’s deaths were reported out of Kansas City.
To date, at least 113,191 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus in the metro, which encompasses Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.
On New Year’s Day, 1,334 cases were reported, nearing the single-day record set on Nov. 14 when 1,335 cases were added.
As of Sunday, the seven-day rolling average for new cases in the Kansas City metro sits at 872. One week ago, it was 764. Two weeks ago, it was 836.
Johnson County tallies the greatest number of infections in the metro, at 34,461. The county has also suffered the most deaths, with 455.
Kansas City has reported 356 COVID-19 deaths and 30,887 cases to date. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’s COVID-19 data for Jackson, Clay and Platte counties does not include the cases discovered within Kansas City’s city limits.
On Sunday, Missouri reported more than 401,700 cases to date, including 5,562 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 19.5%.
As of Friday, the most recent day in which numbers were reported, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 227,745 cases, including 2879 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 12.2%.
Across the country, nearly 20.5 million people have contracted the virus and more than 350,600 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Globally, more than 84.8 million people have tested positive for the virus and more than 1.8 million have died.
