COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES: 29% of population in Missouri have completed vaccination – KMBC Kansas City

The Kansas City metro area continues to reopen as more and more of the population gets the COVID-19 vaccine.What you need to know:The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Monday the state has 309,645 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and there have been 4,985 deaths since the outbreak started. Overall the state said 38.6% of the population has been vaccinated with at least one dose.The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Tuesday there have been 503,615 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak and 8,814 deaths. Overall, the state said 37.8% of the population has received at least one dose and 29% have completed vaccination.TUESDAY1 p.m. — Missouri’s third-largest city is easing its coronavirus restrictions, at least for outdoor activities.The Springfield City Council on Monday passed a bill removing the requirement that people wear masks outdoors in most cases. In a news release, the city cited new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that say fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces outdoors anymore unless they are in crowds.The Springfield-Greene County Health Department determined that just 1,043 of the 28,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in those counties since the start of the pandemic were linked to outdoor exposure, with most of those happening at large gatherings such as sporting events. St. Louis city and county on Monday lifted their limits on the number of people allowed in restaurants, with officials citing a decline in new COVID-19 cases and the increased access to vaccines. Restaurants must still space tables at least 6 feet apart, and masks are required indoors and outdoors if there isn’t enough space to socially distance. The state health department announced that its weekly review of death records found 66 additional COVID-19-related deaths. Of the 66, 1 each occurred in October, December and February; six were in January; nine were in March; and 48 were in April. All told, Missouri has recorded 8,814 COVID-19 deaths and 503,615 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.CDC data shows that just 38.1% of Missouri residents have received at least one vaccine dose. Inmates are doing better, with 47% of Missouri’s 10,795 inmates having received at least one dose, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.COVID-19 cases among prisoners and staff have declined sharply since early winter. In December, 455 inmates and 129 employees were infected. The Missouri Department of Corrections said the current count shows 23 active cases among inmates and three among employees.10:15 a.m. — Dr. Rex Archer, the city of Kansas City Health Director, will make a “special announcement” at 3 p.m. Tuesday during a news conference. He will be joined by KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas and City Manager Brian Platt. It’s unclear what Archer will be announcing at this point.9:30 a.m. — As new coronavirus vaccination numbers drop, local health experts are concerned. Doctors with the University of Kansas Health System say it’s unlikely our communities reach herd immunity – unless more people get their shots. They’re watching the rollback of health and safety restrictions closely. READ MORE8 a.m. — Officials with the University of Kansas Health System said doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital are currently treating 25 active COVID-19 infections – the highest number in weeks. Of those 25, six patients are in the ICU and five are on a ventilator. In addition, 10 more patients remain in the hospital in the recovery phase. On Friday, the hospital went from one COVID-19 unit to two.7 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 503,615 on Tuesday, which is an increase of 312 cases. The state also reported there have been 83,586 (+297) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,814 (+69) deaths since the start of the outbreak. The MDHSS said the spike is attributed to a review of death certificates.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 5.1%, according to the MDHSS, up from numbers from the past week. That number is still down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,976,525 vaccine doses, 2,322,582 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,777,677 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.8% of the population has received at least one dose and 29% have completed vaccination.An estimated 35.5% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 34.3%, Clay County is at 28.8%, Cass County is at 29.4% and Platte County is at 24.8%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,575 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 368 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,748 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,727 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,269 cases in Clay County, 7,654 in Cass County and 3,287 in Platte County.6 a.m. — St. Louis and St. Louis County are lifting limits on the number of people allowed in restaurants, local officials announced Monday.St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page cited the drop in cases in the area and the increase in access to vaccinations, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The decision ends St. Louis’ midnight business curfew. It also ends a half-capacity limit on county restaurants and a 25% capacity limit on banquet halls. Events with up to 500 attendees no longer need government approval, but larger events still need permission from health officials. Restaurants also still have to space out tables at least 6 feet apart, and masks are required indoors and outdoors if there isn’t enough space to social distance.[ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] MONDAY3:15 p.m. — Kansas health officials say vaccinations to protect the public from COVID-19 slowed in April, even as more contagious variants of the coronavirus surged and hospitalizations from the disease rose in the state. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment numbers show about 91,000 fewer people received first doses of the available vaccines in April than in March. Officials say there were 520 new hospitalizations and 157 new ICU admissions in April, compared with 438 new hospitalizations and 150 new ICU admissions in March. Meanwhile, confirmed variant cases nearly tripled over the last three weeks of April. Officials did see a decrease in deaths from COVID-19 in April, at 69, compared with 170 deaths in March.2 p.m. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported an increase of 515 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its first update since Friday, pushing the statewide total to 309,645 since the outbreak started.KDHE reported three new deaths, making the total since the start of the outbreak 4,985. The state reported hospitalizations increased by 31 to 10,279 since the start of the outbreak.The overall monthly positivity is at 3.6% for May 2021 to date, slightly up from last month according to the KDHE. That number is still down from a high of 16.5% in November.The state also said it has vaccinated 1,124,554 people, 1,930,872 total doses of the vaccine have been administered and 38.6% of the population has been vaccinated with one dose.[ KANSAS COVID-19 COVID-19 DASHBOARD ]Johnson County is the county with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak with 58,032 cases. Sedgwick County is second with 56,258. Wyandotte County is third with 20,286 cases. Leavenworth County has 7,200 cases, Douglas County reports 8,809 and Miami County has 2,747.Health officials said they’re now monitoring 47 outbreak clusters – up from just 30 at the start of April. A total of 3,027 cases have been attributed to these clusters with 44 hospitalizations and 13 deaths.8:30 a.m. — Vaccination rates vary widely across Kansas and Missouri as officials work to persuade more people to get the coronavirus shots. Statistics on the vaccination campaign show some communities making good progress distributing the shots while other, often rural areas, lag behind. In Kansas, a 26-percentage point gap exists between the county with the highest vaccination rate and the lowest. In Missouri, that gap is 33 percentage points. READ MORE8 a.m. — Officials with the University of Kansas Health System said doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital are currently treating 25 active COVID-19 infections – the highest number in weeks. Of those 25, seven patients are in the ICU and six are on a ventilator. In addition, 13 more patients remain in the hospital in the recovery phase. On Friday, the hospital went from one COVID-19 unit to two.7 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 503,303 on Monday, which is an increase of 225 cases. The state also reported there have been 83,586 (+99) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,745 (+0) deaths since the start of the outbreak.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 5.1%, according to the MDHSS, up from numbers from the past week. That number is still down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,954,014 vaccine doses, 2,316,315 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,760,994 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.7% of the population has received at least one dose and 28.7% have completed vaccination.An estimated 35.4% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 34.2%, Clay County is at 28.7%, Cass County is at 29.4% and Platte County is at 24.8%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,574 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 368 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,714 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,696 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,266 cases in Clay County, 7,647 in Cass County and 3,287 in Platte County.[ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] SUNDAY6 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 503,078 on Sunday, which is an increase of 811 cases. The state also reported there have been 83,586 (+180) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,745 (+2) deaths since the start of the outbreak.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 5.1%, according to the MDHSS, up from numbers from the past week. That number is still down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,920,555 vaccine doses, 2,308,315 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,735,011 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.6% of the population has received at least one dose and 28.3% have completed vaccination.An estimated 35.3% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 34.1%, Clay County is at 28.7%, Cass County is at 29.3% and Platte County is at 24.7%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,700 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 386 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,693 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,676 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,265 cases in Clay County, 7,646 in Cass County and 3,286 in Platte County. [ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] SATURDAY9:30 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 502,267 on Saturday, which is an increase of 628 cases. The state also reported there have been 83,406 (+220) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,743 (+2) deaths since the start of the outbreak.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 5%, according to the MDHSS, up from earlier this week. That number is down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,920,555 vaccine doses, 2,308,315 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,735,011 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.6% of the population has received at least one dose and 28.3% have completed vaccination.An estimated 35.3% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 34.1%, Clay County is at 28.7%, Cass County is at 29.3% and Platte County is at 24.7%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,387 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 341 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,660 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,648 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,260 cases in Clay County, 7,645 in Cass County and 3,284 in Platte County. [ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] FRIDAY5:59 p.m. — Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Walmart and Kansas City Public Schools announced a weekend COVID-19 vaccination event. It will be held Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Northeast High School. Walmart pharmacists will vaccinate 300 Kansas Citians who have not yet initiated their vaccine process. Kansas Citians can call 833-886-0023 and select Option 5 to schedule an appointment. This clinic will also accept walk-ins and same-day appointments. 4:15 p.m. — Despite Johnson County dropping its mask requirement, the Shawnee Mission School District plans to keep its current COVID-19 protocols in place. The district announced Friday that all their current procedures – including mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing and enhanced sanitation – will stay in place. Officials said the goal is to keep students healthy in order to hold in-person graduation and other end-of-year events. The announcement comes after 200 students at Shawnee Mission South are not allowed to participate in sports because of they are in quarantine.3:45 p.m. — The De Soto School District announced Friday that it is keeping its mask mandate in place for students in the USD 232 school district. The news comes as the district only has 18 days of school remaining in the school year.“Our priority is to keep students and staff safe while finishing the school year strong with in-person activities and celebrations, like graduation,” the district said in an email to parents. “Mitigation measures, including masking, have made in-person learning and these activities possible.“As many of you may know by now, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners will allow the current public health order requiring masks be worn in public spaces to expire at the end of the day on April 30. In its place, the county will issue a resolution on May 1 to strongly recommend masking in public spaces. This decision was made at least in part because of the availability of vaccines in the county.“The school district’s policy requiring masks was adopted on July 13, 2020. Given that there is not a vaccine available to anyone under the age of 16 and having students in close proximity for long periods of time, it is important that the mask requirement remain in place for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.”The district said decisions about next school year and any COVID-19 mitigation will be made and shared with staff and families during the summer.3:15 p.m. — Masks and social distancing are no longer required outdoors in Wyandotte County, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City Commission announced on Friday.The UG Commission said the new order does still require masks for most public indoor settings and aligns Wyandotte County with Kansas City, Missouri, and Jackson County’s updated mandates. READ MORE1:50 p.m. — The athletic director at Shawnee Mission South High School is pleading with families to take pandemic safety protocols seriously after instructing about 200 students to quarantine this week. John Johnson, who oversees athletics for the Raiders, said in a message to parents and athletes that “there are more students with positive tests, and that is causing an extreme domino effect of COVID transmission concerns.” READ MORE 1:15 p.m. — A southwest Missouri school district that dropped its mask mandate earlier this month has decided to reinstate it after several students became infected with COVID-19, leading to dozens of quarantines. The 1,700-student Reeds Spring district had gone weeks without a positive case when it decided to make masks optional beginning April 22. READ MORE12:30 p.m. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported an increase of 620 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its first update since Wednesday, pushing the statewide total to 309,130 since the outbreak started.KDHE reported four new deaths, making the total since the start of the outbreak 4,982. The state reported hospitalizations increased by 97 to 10,248 since the start of the outbreak.The overall monthly positivity is at 3.1% for April 2021 to date, slightly up from earlier this month according to the KDHE. That number is still down from a high of 16.5% in November.The state also said it has vaccinated 1,118,929 people, 1,909,112 total doses of the vaccine have been administered and 38.4% of the population has been vaccinated with one dose.[ KANSAS COVID-19 COVID-19 DASHBOARD ]Johnson County is the county with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak with 57,888 cases. Sedgwick County is second with 56,132. Wyandotte County is third with 20,233 cases. Leavenworth County has 7,188 cases, Douglas County reports 8,787 and Miami County has 2,741.Health officials said they’re now monitoring 47 outbreak clusters – up from just 30 earlier this month. A total of 3,027 cases have been attributed to these clusters with 44 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. 9 a.m. — Officials with the University of Kansas Health System said doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital are currently treating 17 active COVID-19 infections – the highest number in weeks. Of those 17, nine patients are in the ICU and three are on a ventilator. In addition, 14 more patients remain in the hospital in the recovery phase.8:30 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 501,639 on Friday, which is an increase of 533 cases. The state also reported there have been 83,186 (+223) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,741 (+3) deaths since the start of the outbreak.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 4.9%, according to the MDHSS. That number is down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,879,055 vaccine doses, 2,297,174 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,703,609 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.4% of the population has received at least one dose and 27.8% have completed vaccination.An estimated 35.2% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 33.9%, Clay County is at 28.6%, Cass County is at 29.1% and Platte County is at 24.6%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,327 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 332 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,610 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,616 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,247 cases in Clay County, 7,642 in Cass County and 3,283 in Platte County.6 a.m. — ICYMI: Missouri has reported just 14 breakthrough COVID-19 cases among people who are fully vaccinated to federal health officials, even though dozens more have been detected in just the state’s largest county.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked states at the start of this month to instruct local health departments and health systems to collect real-time information on “breakthrough infections.” States are to collect the data and enter it into a national database. But by mid April, when the CDC announced its first tally of breakthrough infections, it caught a disease investigator for the St. Louis County Department of Public Health by surprise.“I wasn’t sure how they were following it,” said Dr. James Hinrichs. “I am very confused as to how this is being collected and by whom.”The county, which has been tracking down breakthrough infections on its own, shared last week that it had come across 71 such infections out of about 226,000 fully vaccinated people. Twenty-five more breakthrough infections were added this week to bring the county’s total to 96.But Missouri reported only 14 such cases out of about 1.6 fully vaccinated people through the end of last week. Figures for this week weren’t immediately available. Asked about the discrepancy, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox wrote in an email that the state is vetting information received from the county level.“There are many more currently under review than the 14 confirmed,” Cox said. Illinois by comparison, with slightly more than double the population of Missouri, has reported 918 breakthrough infections to the CDC out of its 3.5 million fully vaccinated people, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokesperson said a week ago. On April 20, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force created a process to survey all 217 COVID-19 patients in the hospital that day and found seven had been fully vaccinated. The count serves as a baseline to track changes, said task force director Dr. Alex Garza.The task force hospitals – which include BJC HealthCare, SSM Health, Mercy and St. Luke’s hospitals – are finalizing a process to gather vaccination data on COVID-19 patients going forward, Garza said.The state health department has not asked for breakthrough infection information from the health systems, he said.Despite the hospitalizations discovered by the task force and St. Louis County, Cox told a reporter in an email on Tuesday, “So far, none of these cases resulted in hospitalizations or deaths which is what CDC will be focusing on.”[ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] THURSDAY8 p.m. — The Kansas City Zoo said it will no longer require face masks in its outdoor areas or on rides beginning Friday. Zoo officials said the updated policy is in alignment with the mayor’s amended executive order issued earlier this week.Face masks will continue to be required while visiting indoor exhibits and facilities. READ MORE.4:15 p.m. — Jackson County announced Thursday that it will ease some of its COVID-19 restrictions based on the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The new health order, which takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday means that masking and social distancing are no longer required outdoors, although masking is recommended with medium to large gatherings. READ MORE.2:45 p.m. — A big political battle is brewing over whether top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature will have the final say over how the state spends more than $4.8 billion it expects to receive from the latest federal COVID-19 relief package.The move comes as elected officials voted Thursday to drop mask mandates in Johnson and Riley counties in coming days. Masks have been part of an ongoing fight that has pitted Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly against the GOP-controlled Legislature. This week, Kelly vetoed a provision in a spending bill that would have given legislative committees more power over how to allocate federal relief funds.1:15 p.m. — Missouri has reported just 14 breakthrough COVID-19 cases among people who are fully vaccinated to federal health officials, even though 96 such cases have been detected in just the state’s largest county.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked states at the start of this month to instruct local health departments and health systems to collect real-time information on “breakthrough infections.” States are to collect the data and enter it into a national database. But by mid April, when the CDC announced its first tally of breakthrough infections, it caught a disease investigator for the St. Louis County Department of Public Health by surprise.“I wasn’t sure how they were following it,” said Dr. James Hinrichs. “I am very confused as to how this is being collected and by whom.”The county, which has been tracking down breakthrough infections on its own, shared last week that it had come across 71 such infections out of about 226,000 fully vaccinated people. Twenty-five more breakthrough infections were added this week to bring the county’s total to 96.But Missouri reported only 14 such cases out of about 1.6 fully vaccinated people. Asked about the discrepancy, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox wrote in an email that the state is vetting information received from the county level.“There are many more currently under review than the 14 confirmed,” Cox said. Illinois by comparison, with slightly more than double the population of Missouri, has reported 918 breakthrough infections to the CDC out of its 3.5 million fully vaccinated people, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokesperson said a week ago. On April 20, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force created a process to survey all 217 COVID-19 patients in the hospital that day and found seven had been fully vaccinated. The count serves as a baseline to track changes, said task force director Dr. Alex Garza.The task force hospitals – which include BJC HealthCare, SSM Health, Mercy and St. Luke’s hospitals – are finalizing a process to gather vaccination data on COVID-19 patients going forward, Garza said.The state health department has not asked for breakthrough infection information from the health systems, he said.Despite the hospitalizations discovered by the task force and St. Louis County, Cox told a reporter in an email on Tuesday, “So far, none of these cases resulted in hospitalizations or deaths which is what CDC will be focusing on.”11:30 a.m. — After Friday, there will no longer be a mask mandate in Johnson County, Kansas. The Johnson County Commissioners voted 5-1 on Thursday to let the county’s mask mandate expire and replace it with a resolution to “strongly recommend masks in public spaces.” Businesses, restaurants, schools and local cities can still require masks. READ MORE10 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 501,106 on Thursday, which is an increase of 521 cases. The state also reported there have been 82,963 (+551) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,738 (+1) deaths since the start of the outbreak.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 4.7%, according to the MDHSS. That number is down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,845,710 vaccine doses, 2,286,510 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,679,737 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.3% of the population has received at least one dose and 27.4% have completed vaccination.An estimated 35% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 33.7%, Clay County is at 28.4%, Cass County is at 29% and Platte County is at 24.4%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,232 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 319 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,560 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,559 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,237 cases in Clay County, 7,639 in Cass County and 3,276 in Platte County.9:30 a.m. — Johnson County, Kansas, leaders debating future of county’s mask mandate ahead of planned expiration Friday.9 a.m. — The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment said it has hit 100,000 vaccinations at its clinics.8:30 a.m. — Officials with the University of Kansas Health System said doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital are currently treating 13 active COVID-19 infections. Of those 13, six patients are in the ICU and three are on a ventilator. In addition, 12 more patients remain in the hospital in the recovery phase.8:15 a.m.– The Johnson County Commissioners will decide Thursday if they’ll keep the county’s mask mandate or let it expire.Several Johnson County commissioners, including Commission Chairman Ed Eilert, have indicated that they would like to see the county’s current mask order expire at the end of the day Friday and replace it with a resolution that would not require but strongly encourage masks in public spaces. READ MORE6 a.m. — An advisory board for the St. Louis County Jail is warning that the facility doesn’t have enough room to take inmates from a long-criticized city jail known as the workhouse.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Mayor Tishaura Jones has promised to close the city jail, whose formal name is the Medium Security Institution. It is one of two in the city. But members of the oversight panel said the county jail, which is located in the Buzz Westfall Justice Center in Clayton, has too many detainees and too few employees to safely take on some of the overflow, as city officials had proposed.The county jail’s population grew about 40% over the last year, largely driven by spikes in the number of pre-trial detainees whose court hearings were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, Acting Director Doug Burris said at the advisory board meeting Friday.It now houses about 1,000 detainees out of a capacity of about 1,283. The workhouse currently houses 331 inmates.Meanwhile, the county jail has struggled to recruit qualified applicants to fill about 45 long-vacant positions for correctional officers, Burris said.Spokesmen for both Jones and County Executive Sam Page said Tuesday there have been no further talks about housing city inmates in the county.[ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] WEDNESDAY12:30 p.m. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported an increase of 645 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its first update since Monday, pushing the statewide total to 308,510 since the outbreak started.KDHE reported eight new deaths, making the total since the start of the outbreak 4,978. The state reported hospitalizations increased by 55 to 10,151 since the start of the outbreak.The overall monthly positivity is at 3.1% for April 2021 to date, slightly up from earlier this month according to the KDHE. That number is still down from a high of 16.5% in November.The state also said it has vaccinated 1,110,043 people, 1,872,482 total doses of the vaccine have been administered and 38.1% of the population has been vaccinated with one dose.[ KANSAS COVID-19 COVID-19 DASHBOARD ]Johnson County is the county with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak with 57,707 cases. Sedgwick County is second with 55,999. Wyandotte County is third with 20,191 cases. Leavenworth County has 7,178 cases, Douglas County reports 8,787 and Miami County has 2,741.Health officials said they’re now monitoring 47 outbreak clusters – up from just 30 earlier this month. A total of 3,027 cases have been attributed to these clusters with 44 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. Noon — Doctors are reporting that more parents are refusing to have their sick children tested for the coronavirus because they don’t want to deal with the hassle if the result is positive. Pediatric Partners in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park recently posted an alert on its Facebook page exhorting parents to stay vigilant because so many weren’t following testing advice. READ MORE9 a.m. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 500,585 on Wednesday, which is an increase of 514 cases. The state also reported there have been 82,412 (+277) possible antigen cases to date.The state said there have now been 8,737 (+5) deaths since the start of the outbreak.The overall seven-day positivity rate for the state is at 4.6%, according to the MDHSS. That number is down from a high of 23.1% in November.The state said it has administered 3,808,043 vaccine doses, 2,275,739 people have initiated vaccination (or received one dose) and 1,652,184 people have received a second dose. Overall, the state said 37.1% of the population has received at least one dose and 26.9% have completed vaccination.An estimated 34.9% of Kansas City residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Jackson County is at 33.5%, Clay County is at 28.4%, Cass County is at 28.9% and Platte County is at 24.3%.[ MISSOURI COVID-19 DASHBOARD]Missouri does not list how many people have recovered from COVID-19.The state reported there have been 2,182 positive cases over the last seven days and an average of 312 cases a day.Looking at local numbers, the DHSS reported 38,504 confirmed cases in Kansas City, Missouri, and 31,495 cases in Jackson County. The state also lists 8,226 cases in Clay County, 7,628 in Cass County and 3,272 in Platte County.8:45 a.m. — The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment has walk-in vaccinations available on Wednesday.8:15 a.m. — Officials with the University of Kansas Health System said doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital are currently treating 11 active COVID-19 infections. Of those 11, four patients are in the ICU and three are on a ventilator. In addition, 10 more patients remain in the hospital in the recovery phase.7 a.m. — Looking at local numbers, 125 new coronavirus cases are being reported in our nine-county area. The average number of daily new hospitalizations continues to fall, as it’s now down to 60. Over the past seven days, Jackson County is seeing the highest number of new cases, followed by Johnson County Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.6 a.m. — ICYMI: Fewer than five of Kansas’ 105 counties still require masks, and those still in place might not last much longer. Johnson County, which is the state’s largest county with more than 600,000 residents, is set to consider Thursday whether to allow its mask order to expire. Health officials there have said they won’t resist dropping the requirement. Such action would leave mask orders in place in just three counties _ Riley County in the Manhattan area, Douglas County in the Lawrence area and Wyandotte County in the Kansas City, Kansas, area. And commissioners in Riley County indicated at a meeting this month that they won’t seek to extend their order further after it expires in mid-May.[ HOW TO GET THE VACCINE IN KANSAS, MISSOURI ][ WHERE WE STAND: MAPS, CHARTS SHOW COVID-19 CASES, VACCINATION RATES ] The Associated Press contributed to this story.