UMKC has surpassed a total of 200 coronavirus cases on campus as of Nov. 7. The university currently has 54 active cases among students and staff, with 39 reported in the last week alone. University officials reported the second-highest number of cases in a single day on Wednesday, Nov. 4, with 11 new on-campus cases.
Infected individuals visited hotspots including the Swinney Recreation Center, the School of Dentistry, the Health Sciences building and the Law School.
The increase in cases on campus mirrors the larger local and national trend. On Nov. 6, Kansas City recorded 5,011 new cases, its largest number of cases in a single day. Similarly, case numbers in the U.S. have soared to a record-shattering height of over 100,000 new cases per day in the last week.
Dr. Albert Ko, professor and department chair of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, told NPR that cases nationwide have increased exponentially and that it isn’t unreasonable to think that the amount of daily new cases could once again double.
“We already have a lot of hospitalizations at this point and I’m worried in the next two or three weeks those could double — it would be devastating for public health,” Ko said.
UMKC has said in its daily reports that it will continue to work closely with local health authorities to manage positive coronavirus cases on campus.
