Kansas coronavirus cases jump by 59, but only 2 are in Sedgwick County; 6 more deaths

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Kansas has jumped by 59 in the past day, but only two of those patients were from Sedgwick County.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment listed 1,849 COVID-19 patients in its daily report on Sunday, up from 1,790 on Saturday. Sedgwick County has 234 patients, up from 232 the day before.

The state saw six more deaths, for 92 total. Local public health officials report four COVID-19 patients in Sedgwick County have died. Additionally, Sumner and Cowley counties have each had one resident die while hospitalized in Sedgwick County. A Harvey County coronavirus patient has died, but the official cause was acute leukemia.

Patients in Kansas range in age from infant to 99, with a median of 51 and an average of 51. At least 390 people with COVID-19 have been hospitalized, but hospitalization data is not available in all cases.

There have been 16,281 negative tests.

Sedgwick County has had 2,394 people tested for a testing rate of 4.64 people per 1,000 population, which continues to lag behind testing in the Kansas City area.

In the Wichita area, Reno County has 13 cases and a testing rate of 5.89, Butler County 12 and 3.78, Harvey County five and 3.69, Sumner County three and 2.89, Cowley County one and 3.24, and Kingman County zero and 3.36. In the Kansas City area, Wyandotte County has 417 cases — the most in the state — and a testing rate of 10.61. Johnson County has 372 and 6.20, Leavenworth County 128 and 11.28, and Douglas County has 43 and 9.05.

Statewide, in cases where race data is available, about 74% are white, about 20% are black and about 5% are other races. In cases where ethnicity data is available, about 22% are Hispanic or Latino. The infection rate in the black community is about three times that of the white community.

In deaths where race data is available, about 65% are white, about 33% are black and about 1% are Native American. In deaths with ethnicity data available, about 3% are Hispanic or Latino. The death rate among black people is more than six times that of white people.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reports 33 cases are travel-related, 113 had close contact with another patient, 75 are likely community spread and 21 are under investigation. Local public health officials listed 242 cases in their daily report, which comes out after the state’s numbers. There have been 128 local patients who have recovered.

This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 12:24 PM.