How to see if there's a COVID outbreak at your family's KC daycare or nursing home

Jan. 11—Whether you're sending your child off to daycare or finding a medical facility for an aging parent, safety from COVID-19 is vitally important. As case numbers rise around Kansas City, here's how to find out whether outbreaks have been recorded in your area — or at a facility where a loved one spends their time.

What counts as a COVID-19 outbreak?

The maps below define an outbreak as five or more linked COVID-19 cases. The cases must be linked by both location and time. Outbreaks remain active on these maps until 28 days after the last positive case, meaning the map shows clusters reported within approximately the past month.

Outbreaks can occur in private places like a family home or an apartment building, but these clusters of cases may not be tracked by local authorities. Instead, the facilities listed on outbreak maps include nursing homes, senior centers, medical facilities, prisons, daycare centers, schools and other places that are required to report their COVID-19 data.

How to check for COVID-19 outbreaks in your school district

This map shows new COVID-19 cases among school-aged residents of every school district in the state of Missouri. Use the drop-down lists at the top of the map to concentrate data in the Kansas City area, then compare school districts on the list at the bottom of the visualization. For recent outbreaks, note the cases reported in the last 14 days.

This data does not include children under the age of five, making preschool, daycare and nursery school outbreaks difficult to track. Experts like Dr. Angela Myers, Infectious Diseases Division Director at Children's Mercy Hospital, recommend that parents review the COVID-19 safety guidelines of these facilities.

"I think it's important for parents to really investigate and make sure that they feel comfortable and safe with the practices that are going on in those daycare settings," she told The Star. "Obviously, young children really can't wear masks. And so it's important to keep them home when they're sick, [and] it's important to make sure that all the adults who are around them are vaccinated."

How to check for COVID-19 outbreaks in your local nursing homes, medical facilities and daycares

Jackson County

Navigate to the county's COVID Data Dashboard and click on the "Outbreaks" tab for a map of recent local outbreaks. This data includes nursing homes, prisons, daycare centers and other facilities.

Johnson County

Click on the Senior Living Facilities tab at the top of the Johnson County COVID-19 dashboard to see a map of recent outbreaks. This data includes independent senior living facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation hospitals and other senior residences, but does not include prisons or schools. Click on the Schools tab for the county's analysis of community transmission risk.

Wyandotte County

Wyandotte County's outbreak locations map shows colored dots marking medical facilities and senior centers experiencing an outbreak. Scroll down to the following map for data on outbreaks in schools.

Platte County, Clay County, Independence and the city of Kansas City currently don't display outbreak data on publicly accessible maps. However, you can still see case numbers by school district on the map linked above, and browse each area's other COVID-19 data on its dashboard.

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Platte County COVID-19 data dashboard

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Clay County COVID-19 data dashboard

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Independence COVID-19 data dashboard

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Kansas City COVID-19 data dashboard

We'll update this story with any more outbreak maps we find.

Do you have more questions about staying safe from COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask our Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com or fill out the form below.

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