Coping with COVID: Metrics update

Regionally, the 905 newly diagnosed cases in Kansas on Monday represented a surge of nearly 60 percent from last Friday’s previous record of 568. It was the seventh time in eight days that new cases had surpassed the previous day’s totals, and the third straight day to surpass the 500-case mark that had stood as the earlier peak of infections on April 30.

Missouri, which hit a peak of 730 new cases last Wednesday, saw three straight days of declines before an uptick on Monday, which brought 468 new cases.

The web site rt.live, which tracks the rate at which the virus is spreading in each state, now show COVID growth on the march in 35 states, including Missouri and Kansas. As of today, it has Missouri with an Rt factor of 1.16 and Kansas at 1.12, with anything over 1.0 representing growth and anything below that showing the virus ebbing.

Nationally, the 7-day average of new cases diagnosed daily nearly doubled in the three weeks between June 9 and Monday of this week—from 21,282 to 41,555.

But in an important departure from trend lines early in the outbreak, the numbers of deaths nationwide continue to fall significantly. The 593 U.S. deaths recorded on Monday, following 285 on Sunday, yielded the lowest two-day total since March 30. Additionally, the 7-day average of new daily deaths now stands at 593, down 73.7 percent from the April 22 peak of 2,255.