Live blog: Blue Valley Schools to release back-to-school plan Friday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to spread across the world, and in Missouri and Kansas.

41 Action News is keeping track of all closings and cancellations, as well as tracking where positive coronavirus cases are located.

If you are a business finding unique ways to serve our community, check our KC Open for Business Facebook group to share your ideas.

Updates on the spread of the virus and how it is affecting the metro can be found below for Aug. 20.

4:25 p.m. | The Blue Valley School District has confirmed more than 100 Blue Valley West football players are in a 14-day quarantine after three people “associated with the program” tested positive for COVID-19.

4 p.m. | After the board rescinded Johnson County gating criteria on Tuesday night, the Blue Valley School District plans to release the gating criteria established by a newly formed committee on Friday, along with a decision on whether the first day of school will be held virtually or in-person.

The decision on whether to hold classes in-person, virtually or through a hybrid model will be in place for the first four weeks of school, the district said in an email to parents on Thursday. The district's Gating Committee will reassess the gating criteria every two weeks to determine if learning modes should change or remain the same.

Both learning modes and activities, including fall sports, will be determined by the gating criteria, which will be based on criteria from the Kansas State Department of Education. The district's Gating Committee consists of an epidemiologist, three pediatricians, a representative of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, the Teachers Association and school administration.

Extracurricular activities and athletics, which were allowed to begin practicing this week, will continue to practice and meet for the remainder of this week pending the committee's decision.

Johnson County's gating criteria considers the 14-day average positivity rate and the number of new COVID-19 cases. The district says the state's criteria considers both of those factors as well as three other data points.

Blue Valley schools begin Sept. 9. —AW

1:20 p.m. | Brookside Poultry Company says it will close its doors after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The restaurant plans to reopen at its new location, 751 E. 63rd St., in mid-September. —AW

12:15 p.m. | The Kansas Department of Revenue says the driver's license office in Mission, 6507 Johnson Drive, will close Thursday because of a suspected COVID-19 case.

The office will be closed for the remainder of the week. No further details on the suspected case were released.

The revenue department will follow cleaning guidelines from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Anyone with an appointment scheduled for this week will be contacted to reschedule or move to another office.

The Mission office is expected to reopen on Monday, Aug. 24. —AW

10:40 a.m. | The Kansas City International Airport continues to see significant year-over-year decreases in passenger traffic as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July, KCI saw 324,930 passengers arrive and depart through its gates, a 71.3% decrease from July 2019. Passenger boardings, which measure those who depart from the airport, were down 71.1%, with a total of 163,686 boardings.

The numbers in July were a slight uptick from June, when the airport saw a nearly 80% decrease in passenger traffic compared with June 2019.

Year-to-date, total passengers are down 59.1%, while passenger boardings are down 59.4%, according to data from the Kansas City, Missouri, Aviation Department. —AW

9:10 a.m. | Officials at Arrowhead Stadium confirmed Thursday morning that the college football game scheduled for Nov. 28 between Mizzou and Arkansas has been moved to the University of Missouri campus in Columbia.

In a tweet, stadium official said fans who purchased tickets to the game through Ticketmaster would be automatically refunded. Others would be refunded at the point of purchase. -SH

9 a.m. | The University of Kansas said Thursday morning that nearly 90 people - most of them students in the school’s fraternity and sorority communities - have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a message to the community posted Thursday morning, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod said entry test results conducted on 7,088 people returned 89 positive cases.

Of the 89 cases, 87 were students, while the other two were identified as faculty and staff.

Girod said a “large majority” of the student positives came from the fraternity and sorority communities. - SH

8:48 a.m. | University of Kansas Health System officials gave their daily COVID-19 update. -KB

7:40 a.m. | U.S. unemployment claims rose back above 1 million last week. -KB

7:30 a.m. | Just starting your day? We’ve got you covered with a quick look at what you need to know. -KB

7:15 a.m. | The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council will meet Thursday to decide whether city staff members will be asked to take furloughs due to the effect COVID-19 has had on the city budget.

It is all part of a proposed plan for the city to cut $50 million from this fiscal year's budget.

The finance committee passed the proposal Wednesday, and it will be in front of the full council at Thursday's meeting. -KB

7 a.m. | Belton residents interested in getting tested for COVID-19 who qualify for an appointment can register to be tested between 7 a.m. and noon on Thursday at Cass County Regional Medical Center. -KB

Previous coverage:
March 2020 updates
April 2020 updates
May 2020 updates
June 2020 updates
July 2020 updates
Monday, August 3
Tuesday, August 4
Wednesday, August 5
Thursday, August 6
Friday, August 7
Monday, August 10
Tuesday, August 11
Wednesday, August 12
Thursday, August 13
Friday, August 14
Monday, August 17
Tuesday, August 18
Wednesday, August 19