KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Since the onset the coronavirus pandemic, the St. Luke’s Health System set a record Wednesday for the highest number of inpatient COVID-19 positive patients.
“The virus is still here and we need to be vigilant and don’t forget the things that we did,” said Dr. Marc Larsen, an emergency room physician and the incident command operations chair for COVID-19.
According to data analyzed by 41 Action News, while Wednesday marked the first day in the metro with no new deaths reported since June 26, the metro saw 455 new cases. It’s the second-most in a single day.
Over the past six days, the seven-county metro has seen an 18.3 percent increase in new COVID-19 cases.
“I think there’s a lot of things that we just need to keep doing that we did really well in the beginning," Larsen said, "and perhaps we need to focus on that again and we can have the same effect."
Dr. Lee Norman, secretary for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, agreed. In a press conference Wednesday, Norman encouraged people to wash their hands regularly, wear masks and avoid mass gatherings.
Norman attributed many of the COVID-19 clusters in Kansas to large gatherings at bars, family parties and large church services.
“We can bend the curve significantly if people would adhere to the guidelines,” he said.
Last week, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed an executive order mandating masks in places open to the public. Counties have the choice to opt out of the order and most are doing so.
Of the state’s 105 counties, 87 have opted to “highly recommend” masks instead of requiring them, according to data collected by Mary Sabatini, Kansas Senator Jim Denning’s communications director.
