Coronavirus updates: Four more deaths, 163 new COVID-19 cases in Kansas

Here are the latest updates from Tuesday on the coronavirus pandemic for the Wichita area. For updates from Monday, click here.

New Kansas coronavirus numbers

Public health officials report 163 new cases of COVID-19 in Kansas and 12 more cases in Sedgwick County as the statewide death count increased by four.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s coronavirus pandemic report for Tuesday listed 3,491 cases in the state and 351 in Sedgwick County. Statewide, there have been 124 deaths and at least 504 hospitalizations.

There have been 24,599 negative tests in Kansas. Sedgwick County has had 3,611 tests administered for a testing rate of 7.0 people per 1,000 population. The local testing rate is the lowest of the nine counties in Kansas with at least 100 confirmed cases.

In the Kansas City area, Wyandotte County has 583 cases — the most in the state. Johnson County has 446 and Leavenworth County has 183. Other Kansas counties with at least 100 confirmed cases are Ford County with 544, Seward County with 422, Finney County with 175, Lyon County with 171 and Shawnee County with 106.

In the Wichita area, Reno County has 26 cases, Butler County has 15, Harvey County has six, Sumner County has three, Cowley County has two and Kingman County has zero.

Statewide, patients range in age from infant to 99 years old. The average age is 47 and the median is 46. In cases with deaths, the age range is 42 to 99 with a median of 82.

Of the 504 patients who have been hospitalized, 193 were admitted to intensive care and 87 required mechanical ventilation. About half of the hospitalized patients have been discharged. Hospitalization data is not available in all cases.

In cases with racial data available, about 78% are white, about 15% are black or African American, about 3% are Asian and other races make up about 4%. In cases with ethnicity data available, about 42% are Hispanic or Latino.

Kansas consolidates coronavirus resources to one site

Gov. Laura Kelly announced the launch of a new website, covid.ks.gov, which centralizes Kansas resources regarding the new coronavirus. The site includes the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s daily updates on confirmed cases, what to do if you experience COVID-19 symptoms, how to protect yourself and information on other resources available.

Church rings bells for workers

Chapel Hill United Methodist Church announced that their carillon bells will ring every evening for five minutes “as a way to show their support for frontline workers in the community.” The church suggested that other churches in Wichita join and ring their bells at 7 p.m.

“This is one simple way all of us can show our support for the important role frontline workers play in our community – whether they be health providers caring for those who are sick, those who work in the retail sector stocking our shelves with food or preparing it in our restaurants, or other essential workers,” Rev. Jeff Gannon said in a statement. “Frontline workers are critical to us during this time of crisis and we want to show them how much we appreciate them each and every day.”

New Kansas flu numbers

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s weekly influenza surveillance report shows that as of Monday, 136 people have died of the flu in the state this flu season. The flu was listed as the direct cause of death for 110 patients and a contributing case of death in 26 cases. The death count is up one from the previous week.

The 136 influenza deaths for the 2019-20 flu season has already surpassed the 97 people who died in the last flu season, which runs from Sept. 1 to May 31.

The World Health Organization director general has said that coronavirus causes a more severe disease than seasonal influenza and the death rate of infected patients is much higher. Additionally, there are vaccines and treatments for the flu, but not for COVID-19.

This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 12:17 PM.