Sedgwick County reports four new coronavirus deaths as Kansas adds 11 more

Sedgwick County reported four deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, breaking a streak of nearly three weeks with no reports of local patients dying from the coronavirus disease.

The report comes as Kansas recorded 11 deaths over two days — the first double-digit increase in statewide coronavirus deaths in more than a month.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 299 deaths attributed to COVID-19 as of Wednesday, up 11 from Monday’s report. The last time the KDHE reported a double-digit increase was June 5, when deaths totaled 232 after an increase of 10.

Reports from the KDHE come out on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. The Sedgwick County Health Department updates its online COVID-19 dashboard every day.

The Sedgwick County Health Department’s death count increased by four to 32 on Wednesday. It is unclear when those patients died because the county’s online report does not list the date of death. Wednesday was the first day since June 25 that the county reported a new death.

The number of deaths attributed to local coronavirus clusters increased by two to 27.

The county health department reported 2,293 cases, the cumulative total since the pandemic hit the area. That was an increase of 74 cases since Tuesday. Recoveries increased by 22 to 962. Active cases increased by 48 to 1,299.

The number of local people tested increased by 719 to 41,084. The percentage of tests that come back positive was reported at 10.61% for Tuesday, which is the most recent day with data available. The county’s chart shows that it was an increase from 9.7% on Monday, but Monday’s rate was revised down from the original report of 11.16%. The positive test percentage is a rolling 14-day average.

The state reported an additional 7,324 negative tests on Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 218,441. A person who has been tested multiple times is only counted once, according to the KDHE.

The KDHE reported an additional 50 hospitalizations over the past two days, bringing the cumulative number of hospital admissions to 1,393. Of the total, 418 patients have been admitted to intensive care and 159 have required mechanical ventilation.

The county only reports hospitalization numbers on Mondays.

The state health department reported 20,933 total cases statewide, an increase of 875 cases or 4.4% from Monday. The state does not report recoveries or active cases. The KDHE reported 2,595 cases in Sedgwick County, an increase of 173 cases or 7.1% from Monday.

Discrepancies in the Sedgwick County case totals between the state and local health departments can be due to a delay in reporting between the agencies. Additionally, local officials only report COVID-19 cases confirmed through a nasopharyngeal test while the KDHE case report includes nasopharyngeal tests, antibody tests and people under investigation, according to the county health department.

Epidemiologists have not determined the source of exposure for any of the 74 new cases reported by the county. Nearly half of all the cases in the county, or 1,113 of the 2,293, are still under investigation.

More than half of the 74 new cases were patients under the age of 40. The infant to 19-year-old age group increased by 10 to 313 cases. The 20-39 age group increased by 31 to 941. The 40-59 age group increased by 25 to 617. The 60-79 age group increased by five to 302. The 80 and older age group increased by three to 120.

One more cluster was identified at a business in Sedgwick County. There have now been 21 clusters, including nine at nursing homes, eight at businesses, three at religious institutions and one at a correctional facility.

The state reported six more clusters, bringing the total to 273. The state’s cluster outbreaks account for 6,950 cases and 224 deaths. The cluster death count increased by eight. The increase in the cluster count came from one more daycare or school, two more group homes and three more private businesses.

County comparisons

Cases of COVID-19 have now been identified in 102 of 105 counties in the state. The three counties without a case are all in northwest Kansas.

While the 875 new cases in Kansas meant a statewide increase of 4.4% from Monday to Wednesday, seven of the 17 counties with at least 100 cases had bigger percent increases.

Counties with at least 100 cases:

• Wyandotte County has 3,391 cases, which is an increase of 222 cases or 7%.
• Johnson County has 3,370 cases, which is an increase of 210 cases or 6.6%.
• Sedgwick County has 2,422 cases, which is an increase of 173 cases or 7.1%.
• Ford County has 2,046 cases, which is an increase of seven cases or 0.3%.
• Finney County has 1,571 cases, which is no change.
• Leavenworth County has 1,264 cases, which is an increase of 16 cases or 1.3%.
• Shawnee County has 1,092 cases, which is an increase of 44 cases or 4.2%.
• Seward County has 1,038 cases, which is an increase of 10 cases or 1%.
• Lyon County has 528 cases, which is an increase of five cases or 1%.
• Douglas County has 490 cases, which is an increase of 34 cases or 7.5%.
• Riley County has 346 cases, which is an increase of 15 cases or 4.5%.
• Crawford County has 328 cases, which is an increase of 12 cases or 3.8%.
• Saline County has 222 cases, which is an increase of two cases or 0.9%.
• Reno County has 141 cases, which is no change.
• Jackson County has 124 cases, which is an increase of one case or 0.8%.
• Geary County has 126 cases, which is an increase of seven cases or 5.9%.
• Butler County has 114 cases, which is an increase of nine cases or 8.6%.

Wichita area counties:

• Sedgwick County has 2,422 cases, which is an increase of 173 cases or 7.1%.
• Reno County has 141 cases, which is no change.
• Butler County has 114 cases, which is an increase of nine cases or 8.6%.
• Harvey County has 99 cases, which is an increase of nine cases or 10%.
• Cowley County has 90 cases, which is an increase of three cases or 3.4%.
• Sumner County has 49 cases, which is an increase of one case or 2.1%.
• Kingman County has five cases, which is an increase of one case or 25%.

This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 1:48 PM.