Coronavirus cases near 200 in Sedgwick County on Easter Sunday. Kansas has 1,337

Here is the news to know on the coronavirus pandemic in Kansas and the Wichita area for Sunday, April 12. For updates from Saturday, click here.

New Kansas coronavirus numbers

On Easter Sunday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas rose to 1,337 with 56 deaths.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s updated report on the pandemic shows Sedgwick County has had 196 patients test positive for the novel coronavirus. In the Wichita area, Reno County reports 10 cases, Butler County eight, Harvey County four, Sumner County two and Cowley County one.

Two Sedgwick County residents have died of COVID-19, local public health officials report. Two additional deaths at Sedgwick County hospitals were residents of Sumner and Cowley counties.

Patients in Kansas range in age from infant to 99 years old, with an average of 53. Statewide, at least 298 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19. However, the hospitalization data is incomplete and does not include information from more than 300 cases.

There have been 11,916 negative tests in Kansas.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reports 194 cases, with 32 being travel-related, 87 who had close contact with another confirmed patient, 58 cases that are likely community spread and 17 that are under investigation.

It also reports that 66 patients have recovered. A person is considered to have recovered from COVID-19 when their symptoms have been gone for at least three days or their symptoms started more than a week ago, whichever is longer.

Sedgwick County has had 1,382 residents tested so far. The testing rate of 2.68 per 1,000 people continues to lag behind counties in the Kansas City area.

Wyandotte County, which has the most patients in the state at 332, has a testing rate of 8.34 — more than three times the rate in Sedgwick County. Johnson County has 304 patients and a testing rate of 4.66, Leavenworth County 85 and 9.01, and Douglas County 39 and 8.38.

In the Wichita area, the testing rates are 3.97 in Reno County, 3.22 in Kingman County, 2.88 in Harvey County, 2.68 in Butler County, 2.66 in Cowley County and 2.19 in Sumner County.

Kansas Supreme Court rules on religious gathering ban lawsuit

The Kansas Supreme Court decided Saturday night that Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order limiting in-person religious gatherings to fight the coronavirus would go back into effect on Easter Sunday. The justices said top Republicans in the Legislature didn’t follow the proper procedure to revoke the order.

The narrow ruling drew no conclusions about broader questions of public health and religious freedom — or whether the resolution conflicts with state law. Attorney General Derek Schmidt has advised police and sheriffs not to arrest or criminally charge anyone violating the order.

To read more on the ruling by the state’s top court, click here.

KDHE secretary makes Jonestown comparison

Secretary Lee Norman of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment compared plans for a mass Easter Sunday service to the 1978 Jonestown Massacre. He made the comparison in a Facebook exchange with Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita and chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee. Jonestown was a religious compound where hundreds of people died from drinking poisoned punch in a ritual ordered by their leader.

To read more about the state’s top doctor and a Sunday congregation he referred to as “CRAZily negligent,” click here.

Junction City church defies state order

Pastor Aaron Harris of Calvary Baptist Church in Junction City said services would go forward in person for Easter Sunday despite the governor’s executive order barring mass gatherings, including at religious institutions. He said the church has continued to hold services during the pandemic and would not stop, calling the order unconstitutional.

To read more on the Kansas church’s defiance of the mass gathering ban, click here.

Coronavirus tests, deepens faith

Some people in the Wichita area see the pandemic as a test of their religious beliefs. To read more on how the pandemic has affected their faith, click here.

This story was originally published April 12, 2020 at 12:14 PM.