Four new nursing home coronavirus clusters identified in Sedgwick County
Four new nursing home coronavirus clusters have been identified in the Wichita area, according to the Sedgwick County Health Department.
The county’s online COVID-19 dashboard shows nine total clusters at long-term care facilities as of Wednesday, which is an increase of four from Tuesday’s report. Limited information on the clusters was included in a county news release.
Release of information about clusters has been inconsistent in Sedgwick County. Wednesday’s new release did not provide a specific number of cases at each facility nor did it include information about a fourth facility that’s been added to the dashboard.
The health department has decided to provide only limited information on clusters and only with the permission of the long-term care facilities.
The three nursing homes identified by the county were Chaucer Estates at 10550 E. 21st St N., Comfort Care Homes of Wichita at 509 N. Tallyrand and The Oxford Grand at New Market at 3051 Parkdale Circle.
Each cluster has fewer than five cases and no deaths. All residents and staff are being tested.
Information on the fourth cluster will be released on Thursday, the county spokesperson said. The county is waiting on additional results.
There have now been 18 total clusters in the county: Nine at nursing homes, five at businesses, three at religious institutions and one at a correctional facility. Six of the clusters have closed. Combined, the outbreaks are responsible for 25 of the county’s 28 deaths.
The county reported 1,278 total cases and 548 active cases on Wednesday.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment show older Kansans are at a higher risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19.
Of the 14,990 cases in the state as of Wednesday, 847 patients are ages 65-74, 443 are ages 75-84 and 356 are 85 or older.
Hospitalization data shows 213 patients ages 65-74 required hospitalization, or about 25% of cases in that age group. There have been 150 patients ages 75-84 who were hospitalized, or about 34% of cases in that age range. Among patients 85 and older, there have been 118 hospitalizations, or about 33% of cases in the age group.
Death data shows 52 patients who were 65-74 have died, or 6% of patients in that age group. There were 61 deaths among patients aged 75-84, or about 14% of all patients in that age range. There have been 100 patients 85 years old and older who have died, which is about 28% of all patients in that age group.
Combined, those age groups account for about 78% of the 272 deaths in Kansas and about 40% of the 1,195 hospitalizations.
Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Eagle
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 4:39 PM.