Coping with COVID: Slight increase in rate of new cases for Kansas City metro

The Kansas City metro saw a small surge in COVID-19 cases this past weekend with the largest number of new reported cases set at 141 on Saturday, according to data compiled by The Kansas City Star. This number dropped to 58 on Sunday, then rose to 73 on Monday.

As of Monday, Missouri reported 14,734 total confirmed cases and 819 deaths related to COVID-19, according to Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ website, while Kansas reported a total of 10,650 confirmed cases and 236 deaths, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Despite the overall rise in the number of positive cases, the University of Kansas Health System has seen a decrease in the number of patients being admitted and treated in their facilities over the past few weeks, said David Wild, vice president of performance improvement at the University of Kansas Health System in a COVID-19 media briefing Monday.

“[As the] number of people who are really critically ill has gone down, so has the number of people in the hospital,” Wild said. “We’re turning over people more often. People come in for two or three days, then go home.”

Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, joined the media briefing as well. Regardless of lowering numbers, Hawkinson stated that that they have not seen a change in the strain and that the virus is still out there.