Coronavirus updates: Kansas has 942 new cases, 9 more deaths; hospitalizations down
Kansas has reported 942 new COVID-19 cases and nine additional deaths since Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday.
The new numbers bring the total to 27,812 cases and 358 deaths.
Additionally, there have been 51 more hospitalizations since the Wednesday KDHE report, bringing the total to 1,751. There have been 264,695 negative tests.
The percent of positive cases on Friday was 10.1%. The percent of positive is a better indicator of community spread than new cases, which could be influenced by additional testing, health officials say.
In mid-July, Kansas was put in the “yellow zone” in a White House document for having between 5-10% of cases come back positive. The rating is based on a seven-day average. Over 10% indicates a red zone. Assuming the average is of the latest seven days, Kansas is still in the yellow zone with 8.44%.
Health officials also say deaths and hospitalizations are good indicators of community spread.
According to the KDHE, deaths trended from about 2.9 a day on July 12 to roughly 3.2 on July 26. The data lags five days behind because the latest data is expected to be incomplete.
More than 77% of the 358 deaths were people over the age of 65.
Hospitalizations during that same period trended down, from around 17 admissions a day to about 7. Ages 55-64 have the largest number of hospitalizations with 350, or 20%. Second is ages 65-74 with 331 cases or 18.9%.
Sedgwick County’s new cases increased by 245, representing 26% of the new cases. Sedgwick County has 4,196 cases.
The county has reported 39 deaths.
Sedgwick County sees triple-digit rise
The Sedgwick County Health Department reported 110 new cases, bringing the total to 4,072.
Discrepancies in the data between the local and state health departments can be due to a delay in reporting between the agencies, officials have said.
There were no additional deaths, leaving that number at 39. Long-term care facility deaths have been responsible for at least 69% of the deaths. Those facilities have less than 6% of the county’s cases.
After hitting a peak of 13.83% positive cases on July 23, Sedgwick County saw its number start to drop daily until edging up 0.08% to 12.34% on Thursday, the latest day available.
Also on Thursday, Sedgwick County hit a record of 2,650 active cases. Active cases are cases minus recoveries and deaths. The number climbed each day from the beginning of July until dropping for the first time this month on Sunday. It dropped again Monday before starting to rise each day since.
Cases by age group are available in 20 year intervals. The largest number of cases is in the 20-39 age range. That age group has 1,695 cases, or about 42% of the total. Ages 40-59 is second with 1,144 cases, or about 28%.
Sedgwick County has identified 28 clusters, with 14 coming from long-term care facilities.
Previous Sedgwick County inmate tests positive, adding to cases at jail
On Friday, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said it found out the day before that a previous inmate had tested positive for COVID-19. The inmate had been tested on Monday after showing symptoms and was released prior to the sheriff’s office getting the results of the test, Lt. Tim Myers said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said inmates were tested last week and 22 came back positive. The latest is the 25th inmate to test positive at the jail. They have also have had a jail deputy test positive.
With the latest results, the sheriff’s office will test 27 staff and 78 inmates that had possibly been in contact with the inmate. Seventy-six inmates will be quarantined until they are medically cleared, Myers said.
”If more inmates need to be quarantined or isolated, we already have an established plan to minimize further exposure to staff and inmates,” Myers said.
Cosmosphere cancels Apollo 13 anniversary gala, plans online auction
The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson announced Friday that it was canceling its Nov. 13 gala celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission. Because of the pandemic, the event that had been scheduled for April was rescheduled for November, before being canceled altogether. The gala had planned to have astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, who were part of the ill-fated 1970 mission that had an oxygen tank rupture in space. The Cosmosphere is home to the Apollo 13 spacecraft. Instead of the gala, the Cosmosphere will have an online auction with signed memorabilia from the crew and other items on Nov. 13.
Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield going virtual
The Walnut Valley Festival, dubbed WVF 48.5, will be held virtually Sept. 12-20. The Winfield event usually draws between 10,000-15,000 people to hear an eclectic group of musicians, according to a news release. Sixty percent of the funds raised will be split between the artists and the rest will be used to pay for production costs of the festival and for the 49th Walnut Valley Festival in 2021, the release says. More information is available at wvfest.com.
Bags to Riches fundraiser changes name, goes virtual
Catholic Charities announced Friday that it was turning its Bags to Riches annual fundraiser into a virtual event.
“The pandemic has made it impossible to plan the traditional in-person fundraising event, so we are pivoting our popular summer fundraiser to a virtual event known as Beaches & Blessings,” Catholic Charities executive director Wendy Glick said in a statement. “Rather than gather in a crowded venue and stand in line for food and drinks, we are inviting people to mentally escape to their favorite beach, relax with a delicious meal and help us bless those we serve by participating in online auctions for designer purses and jewelry, raffles and donation drives.”
Beaches & Blessings will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Aug. 21. For more information or to buy tickets, go to CatholicCharitiesWichita.org/beaches-and-blessings.
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 2:18 PM.