Coronavirus updates: Cases of COVID-19 increased 9% over two days in Sedgwick County

The Eagle has compiled a list of news to know on the coronavirus pandemic in the Wichita area and Kansas for Wednesday, June 24. For updates from Tuesday, click here.

New KDHE and SCHD numbers

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s report for Wednesday showed increases in several categories from the last state report on Monday.

There were 505 new cases, two more deaths, 26 new hospitalizations and 6,187 more negative tests. There have now been a total of 12,970 cases, 261 deaths, 1,082 hospitalizations and 148,735 negative tests.

The 505 new cases is an increase of about 4% in two days.

Of the 1,082 hospitalizations, 348 patients have been admitted to intensive care units and 150 have required mechanical ventilation. There have been 747 patients discharged.

The Sedgwick County Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday showed increases in some categories from Tuesday.

There were 21 new cases, 18 new recoveries and no new deaths. Active cases, which are equal to cases minus recoveries minus deaths, increased by three. There are now 313 active cases in the county. There have been 958 cases, 26 deaths and 619 recoveries.

County epidemiologists have determined that 10 of the new cases had close contact with another confirmed case. One patient was likely infected through community spread, one patient’s case is travel-related and nine cases are still under investigation.

There were 489 new tests administered, which puts the total at 25,666. With increased testing, the percentage of tests that come back positive is also on the rise. The county reports rolling 14-day average percent of tests that came back positive. It was 3.83% on Tuesday and 3.55% on Monday.

Discrepancies between state and local data can be due to delays in reporting between the two public health agencies, officials have said.

County comparisons

The KDHE report lists 13 counties with at least 100 cases of COVID-19.

Of those counties, Sedgwick County had the sixth-most cases, the third-biggest increase in cases and the third-biggest percent increase in cases since Monday’s report.

Wyandotte County has the most cases and was first to break the 2,000 mark. Johnson County had the most new cases, 99, over the past two days. Riley County had the biggest percent change in total cases at 23%.

Cases have been identified in 94 of the state’s 105 counties, which is an increase of two counties. Kingman County, which borders Sedgwick County to the west, has not recorded a case.

The list of the 13 counties with cases reported by the KDHE on Wednesday:

• Wyandotte County has 2,030 cases, which is up 96 cases or about 5%.
• Ford County has 1,963 cases, which is up 37 or about 2%.
• Finney County has 1,528 cases, which is up five or about 0.3%.
• Johnson County has 1,409 cases, which is up 99 or about 8%.
• Leavenworth County has 1,137 cases, which is up seven or about 0.6%.

• Sedgwick County has 974 cases, which is up 82 or about 9%.

• Seward County has 939 cases, which is up four or about 0.4%.
• Shawnee County has 543 cases, which is up 28 or about 5%.
• Lyon County has 481 cases, which is up two or about 0.4%.
• Crawford County has 220 cases, which is up 28 or about 15%.
• Riley County has 152 cases, which is up 28 or about 23%.
• Jackson County has 105 cases, which is up one or about 1%.
• Douglas County has 106 cases, which is up three or about 3%.

Of those 13 counties, Sedgwick County has the third-lowest testing rate. The state reports 23,117 patients have been tested and the testing rate is 44.8 people per 1,000 population. That rate is above Riley and Douglas counties, but below the other 10 counties with at least 100 cases.

In the Wichita area:

• Sedgwick County has 974 cases, which is up 82 cases or about 9%.
• Reno County has 67, which is up four or about 6%.
• Cowley County has 61, which is up two or about 3%.
• Butler County has 52, which is up one or about 2%.
• Harvey County has 26, which is up seven or about 37%.
• Sumner County has 10, which is no change.

Coronavirus clusters

Cluster outbreaks of the coronavirus are responsible for about three-quarters of deaths and nearly half of all cases in the state, according to KDHE statistics.

Seven new clusters were identified in Wednesday’s report, all of which came from private businesses. However, the private industry section increased by 10 cases and the school/daycare section with three cases was removed.

There are 194 clusters in the state, 102 of which are active. They account for 6,122 cases and 195 deaths.

Meatpacking plant outbreaks alone account for about a quarter of cases in the state. The 12 meatpacking plant clusters have infected 3,108 people and killed 16. One cluster is closed.

Nursing home clusters are responsible for a little over half of all deaths in the state. The 48 clusters at long-term care facilities account for 900 cases and 149 deaths, which is an increase of three deaths from Monday’s report. Clusters have been closed at 23 nursing homes.

A little less than half of all clusters have been at private businesses. The 95 outbreaks from private industry have infected 730 people and are responsible for six deaths. Forty-six of the clusters are no longer active.

There have been four clusters at correctional facilities, accounting for 1,027 cases and seven deaths. There have been outbreaks at 20 gatherings, which includes religious institutions, infecting 224 people and killing 14. Group living situations account for seven clusters with 67 cases and three deaths. Health care facilities have had eight outbreaks with 66 cases.

The Sedgwick County Health Department lists 13 clusters, six of which have closed. There have been outbreaks at five businesses, four nursing homes, three religious institutions and one correctional facility. Combined, the clusters are responsible for 23 deaths, which is 88% of the county’s total.

Demographics

Hospitalization data shows people from every age group have been hospitalized, except for ages 10-17. About 10% of patients hospitalized in Kansas were 34 years old or younger. About 42% of the hospitalized patients were 65 or older.

The youngest person to die with COVID-19 in Kansas was 29. The oldest was 99 and the median is 79. About 59% of deaths were patients who were 75 or older. About 8% of deaths were patients younger than 55.

Comparatively, patients 75 and older comprise about 6% of all cases. Patients 17 or younger comprise about 7% of all cases. The age group with the most cases is 25-34, which has about 20% of all cases.

In deadly cases with race and ethnicity data reported, Black Kansans have a death rate per population more than three times that of any other race.

In all Kansas cases, patients range in age from infant to 103. The median is 40 and the average is 41

Race and ethnicity data is available in about 83% of cases. Most racial and ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus and its disease.

White people have a case rate of about 326 per 100,000 population. That rate is about 548 for Blacks, about 137 for Native Americans, about 691 for Asians and about 473 for all other races combined.

Hispanics have a case rate of about 16 per 100,000 people. The case rate for all other ethnicities is about 2.

More males have been infected than females . About 54% of cases are males, about 45% are females and about 1% did not have the sex reported.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reports demographic information, but the dashboard cautions against making interpretations due to incomplete data. For cases with data available, the 20-39 age group has the most cases and Black people have the highest rate of cases.

This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 4:03 PM.