Coronavirus updates: Sedgwick County passes 500 active cases of COVID-19
The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Sedgwick County passed 500 on Tuesday.
The Sedgwick County Health Department reported an increase of 17 active cases in one day, putting the total at 501.
That number is more four times the 118 active cases on May 26, when the state and local economies were reopened without restrictions.
Public health officials reported 47 new cases on Tuesday, putting the county’s total cases at 1,208. There were 30 additional recoveries, moving the total to 679. There was no change in the number of coronavirus deaths at 28.
Of the 47 new cases of COVID-19, 34 are still under investigation by epidemiologists to determine the source of exposure. In four cases, the patient was a close contact of another confirmed case. One patient was exposed through travel. Eight cases are likely community spread.
The percentage of tests that come back positive passed 5% for the first time since May 10. Another 473 people were tested since Monday, putting the total at 29,195.
The hospitalization numbers, which are updated weekly, were revised on Tuesday. The Monday update had shown one new hospitalization and one new discharge in the previous week. Now, the county’s coronavirus dashboard shows there were six hospitalizations and three discharges for the week of June 21-27.
There have been a total of 136 hospitalizations and 113 discharges. The difference between hospitalizations and discharges is 23. County officials have suggested the difference between hospitalizations and discharges is not an accurate measure of how many patients are currently hospitalized. However, county officials have also said they do not know how many patients are currently hospitalized.
The county’s dashboard shows that the area hospital status assessment is “good” with a green check mark, though the county’s public health officer said on Tuesday that hospital officials are concerned because of a significant rise in hospitalizations. The number of current COVID-19 patients in local hospitals and the number of available hospital beds are not reported on the county’s dashboard.