Coronavirus updates: Sedgwick County hits highest number of active COVID-19 cases
Sedgwick County is experiencing a new wave of COVID-19 cases that is already bigger than the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, based on the number of active cases.
The Sedgwick County Health Department reported 182 active cases of COVID-19 as of Monday — surpassing the previous peak of 176 on April 29. Officials also reported the first new death in more than two weeks.
Total cases in the county have climbed to 660 with 456 recoveries. There have also been 22 deaths, now that the county reported its first new death since May 21.
Active cases are determined by subtracting the number of deaths and recoveries from the total number of cases. The local health department considers a patient to be recovered from COVID-19 after three days without symptoms or once 10 days have passed since symptoms started, whichever is longer.
The second wave comes after Gov. Laura Kelly abandoned her reopening plan amid a fight over emergency powers with the Legislature. The phased-in reopening started May 4 and ended May 26.
The Sedgwick County Commission has not implemented any mandatory restrictions of its own to contain the spread of the disease, ignoring the advice of the county’s public health officer that the Wichita area economy was reopened too soon.
Public health experts have also voiced concern for the potential spread of coronavirus at protests sparked by the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The percentage of tests that are positive is also increasing as the number of tests increases in Sedgwick County. The rolling 14-day average of positive tests peaked at 12% on April 19. As testing increased, the percentage of positive tests dropped to below 0.9% on May 28. Since then, it has increased to about 2.3%.
There have been 17,997 people tested in the county, according to the county health department.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment data shows Sedgwick County has administered the fewest tests per population of the 10 counties with at least 100 cases. The state reports 16,361 tests have been administered in the county, putting the testing rate at 31.7 per 1,000 people. The statewide testing rate is about 41 per 1,000 people with about 8.9% of the tests coming back positive.
The other nine counties are Ford County with 1,856 cases, Wyandotte County with 1,560 cases, Finney County with 1,496 cases, Leavenworth County with 1,103 cases, Johnson County with 977 cases, Seward County with 899 cases, Lyon County with 451 cases, Shawnee County with 384 cases and Jackson County with 103 cases.
The KDHE reports 10,650 cases of COVID-19 have been identified with cases in 89 of the state’s 105 counties. The case count increased by 257 over the weekend.
In the Wichita area, Sedgwick County has 660 cases, Reno County has 54, Butler County has 40, Cowley County has 26, Harvey County has 13, Sumner County has eight and Kingman County has zero.
There have been 236 deaths statewide, up four from Friday’s KDHE report. The death count includes cases where COVID-19 was a cause of death or a contributing cause of death.
There have been 108,859 negative tests, which is an increase of 5,599 from Friday.
Sedgwick County residents can get tested for COVID-19 through the county health department, even if they don’t have any symptoms. Tests can be scheduled by calling United Way of the Plains at 211. The county is also conducting a random-sample survey this week to help determine the spread of the disease.
There have been at least 936 hospitalizations statewide, though hospitalization data is not available in all cases. Intensive care units have admitted 311 patients, and 136 patients have required mechanical ventilation. There have been 625 patients discharged from hospitals.
Last week, another four coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Sedgwick County while no patients were discharged, the county health department reported. It was the first week since the coronavirus pandemic hit that no local patients were discharged from hospitals. It was also the most hospitalizations in a week since the middle of May.
In total, there have been 112 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 96 discharges in Sedgwick County as of Saturday.
An update from the KDHE on coronavirus clusters in the state shows that large outbreaks continue to be the biggest contributors to the spread of the disease. There have been 153 clusters in the state, 91 of which are still active. The other 62 are now closed. Clusters account for 5,533 cases and 167 deaths, or about 52% of all cases and about 71% of deaths in Kansas.
The number of clusters in Kansas increased by eight over the weekend. The cluster-connected case count increased by 142 and the number of deaths went up by four since Friday’s report.
The cluster category with the most deaths is long-term care facilities. Outbreaks at 35 nursing homes are responsible for 126 deaths and 756 cases.
Meatpacking plant outbreaks are responsible for the most cases of any category. The 11 clusters have 2,868 cases and 12 deaths.
The category with the most clusters is private industry. Businesses account for 74 clusters with 590 cases and six deaths.
Correctional facilities account for three clusters with 1,019 cases and seven deaths. Schools or daycares account for two clusters with five cases and no deaths. There have been outbreaks at seven group living situations, totaling 57 cases and three deaths. Health care facilities account for seven clusters with 55 cases and no deaths.
There have been 14 outbreaks at other gatherings, including religious institutions, with 183 cases and 13 deaths.
No new clusters have been identified in Sedgwick County, the county health department reports. There have been 10 clusters, including outbreaks at three businesses, three religious institutions, three nursing homes and one correctional facility. The clusters are responsible for 18 deaths and 242 cases.
All coronavirus patients in the state range in age from infant to 103 years old. The median age is 41 and the average is 42.
The youngest patient in Kansas to die of COVID-19 was 34 years old. The oldest was 99, and the median age is 79.
In cases where race and ethnicity data is available, the KDHE statistics show most minority groups continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus and its disease.
Race data is available in about 82% of cases. The Asian community has the highest case rate at about 621 per 100,000 people, followed by the black or African American population at about 478 per 100,000 people. Comparatively, the white community has a case rate of about 262 per 100,000 people, and the American Indian or Alaska Native population has a rate of about 108 per 100,000. All other races have a rate of about 320 per 100,000.
Ethnicity data is available in about 83% of cases. The Hispanic or Latino community has a case rate of about 13.33 per 100,000 people. All other ethnicity have a case rate of about 1.65 per 100,000.
In Sedgwick County, epidemiologists have determined about 63% of patients were exposed through close contact with a confirmed case, about 24% of patients were likely infected by community spread, about 8% of cases are travel-related and about 6% are under investigation.
The county’s supply of personal protective equipment for first responders and medical facilities includes enough N95 masks and Tyvek coveralls to last at least five weeks. However, there is less than a five-week supply of surgical masks and less than a three-week supply of medical nitrile gloves and surgical gowns. The health department has enough testing supplies to last at least five weeks.
The county’s map with testing and case data by ZIP code was supposed to be updated on Monday, but new data was not available Monday afternoon. The map is available online at www.sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19/.
Monday was also the last day with a daily update from the county health department as it transitions to releasing updates only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The KDHE made the same transition last month.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 4:44 PM.