KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri and the seven-county Kansas City region reported a record number of deaths Wednesday, according to data from state and local health departments, as the death toll across Kansas and Missouri from the COVID-19 pandemic surges.
Missouri reported 58 more deaths on Wednesday, including 15 in Kansas City, Missouri, bringing the state’s total to 2,083, according to the 41 Action News daily COVID-19 tracker.
That comes on the heels of a then-record 49 deaths recorded Tuesday, giving Missouri 107 recorded deaths in the last two days alone.
Prior to the last two days, Missouri had only reported more than 40 deaths on two occasions, 42 on June 18 and 41 on May 30.
There were 26 deaths reported Wednesday in the seven-county KC metro — Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties.
That is double the previous record for deaths reported in a single day, 13 on Aug. 6, and brings the regional total to 588 overall.
Five of those deaths were in Jackson County, two were reported in Johnson and Cass counties, while one each was reported in Clay and Platte counties.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported nine additional deaths Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 621.
That includes 169 deaths so far in September, which breaks the previous record for any month during the pandemic of 94 set in August. That includes a record 26 deaths reported on Sept. 16.
The number of cases also continues to climb.
Missouri set a record with 11,531 new cases last week, while Kansas is on record pace this week.
Another 1,300 coronavirus cases were reported Wednesday by state and local health departments in Kansas, which reported more than 4,000 new cases last week for only the third week during the pandemic.
It’s the fourth time at least 1,300 cases were added in a single day — including three such days since last Friday, with 1,389 cases added Sept. 18 and a record 1,410 new cases added Monday.
