Sedgwick County tripled its COVID cases in July while Kansas cases increased 86%
Many coronavirus pandemic indicators for Kansas and the Wichita area saw large increases during July.
Sedgwick County alone tripled its number of COVID-19 cases in one month. Friday was the first time more than 4,000 cases were reported in the county.
Below is a list of data on COVID-19 and how the statistics changed. The comparison use numbers from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Sedgwick County Health Department for July 1 and July 31.
New cases of COVID-19
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 14,990 total cases of COVID-19 on July 1 and 27,812 total cases on July 31. The 12,822 new cases was a statewide increase of 86%. It is an average of about 427 new cases per day for 30 days.
Every county in the Wichita area had a percent change greater than Kansas as a whole — except for one that had an undefined value.
The KDHE reported 1,368 cases in Sedgwick County on July 1 and 4,196 cases on July 31. The 2,828 new cases was an increase of 207%. There was an average of 94 new cases per day.
Butler County went from 59 cases to 215. That was an increase of 156 cases or 264%. Cowley County went from 71 cases to 151. The increase of 80 cases was a percent change of 113%.
Harvey County went from 39 cases to 165. The 126 new cases was an increase of 323%. Reno County went from 74 cases to 229. The increase of 155 cases was a percent change of 209%.
Sumner County went from 13 cases to 97. That was an increase of 84 cases or 646%. Kingman County went from zero to nine cases. The increase of nine cases is an undefined percent change.
The Sedgwick County Health Department has a local case count that is a little lower than the KDHE report. The discrepancy can be due to a lag in reporting between the state and county health departments, as well as the county only including cases that have been confirmed with a nasopharyngeal test.
Statistics on the county’s COVID-19 dashboard are sometimes revised from the initial reports. These comparisons use the numbers as originally reported by the health department.
The county reported 1,278 total confirmed cases on July 1 and 4,072 cases on July 31. The 2,794 new cases was a 219% increase.
The active case county went from 548 to 2,650. The 2,102 more active cases at the end of the month was a 384% increase. Recoveries went from 702 to 1,383. The 681 additional recoveries was a 97% increase.
The KDHE does not report active cases or recoveries.
There were nine counties without a case at the start of the month. By the end of July, only two counties in northwest Kansas had not recorded a single case.
Deaths
The Kansas COVID-19 death count went from 272 on July 1 to 358 on July 31. The 86 new deaths was a 32% increase. Sedgwick County had 11 new deaths in July, going from 28 to 39. That was a 39% increase in 30 days.
The state averaged one death about every eight hours and 22 minutes. The county averaged one death about every two days, 17 hours and 27 minutes.
The KDHE reported the median age of deceased patients went from 79 years old to 78. For all patients, the median went from 39 to 37.
Hospitalizations
The KDHE reports cumulative hospital statistics since the pandemic hit the state.
The 556 new COVID-19 hospital admissions in Kansas in July was a 47% increase, going from 1,195 to 1,751. The total number of coronavirus disease patients in intensive care units climbed by 127, which was a 35% increase, going from 367 in the ICU to 494.
The cumulative number on ventilators increased from 152 to 179.
Reported discharges increased by 344 patients or 41%, from 834 hospitalized COVID-19 patients discharged to 1,178.
The KDHE report for Sedgwick County included 94 new hospitalizations, which was a 71% increase. The county went from 133 total patients in the hospital to 227. The number in the ICU went from 35 to 44, the number on ventilators increased from eight to 11 and the number of discharges increased from 78 to 121.
The KDHE recently started reporting hospital capacity data, which includes current hospitalizations by day. The most recent day with data available is July 30.
As of July 1, there were 226 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Kansas with 49 of those in the ICU. There were 1,242 ICU beds in the state with 705 in use. There were 43% of ICU beds available. The July 30 numbers listed 366 COVID-19 patients hospitalized with 98 of those in the ICU. The were 610 of the 946 ICU beds in use, so 36% were available.
There were 140 more COVID-19 patients in Kansas hospitals at the end of the month than at the start, or a 62% increase. There were 49 more in the ICU, which was a 100% increase.
The south-central Kansas region had 46 COVID-19 patients hospitalized on July 1 with 15 of those in the ICU. There were 261 out of 430 ICU beds in use, so 39% were available. The numbers for July 30 were 127 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, and 38 of those were in the ICU. There were 244 ICU beds in use out of 380, so 36% were available.
The number of patients with the coronavirus disease in hospitals across the Wichita region increased by 81 patients, or a percent change of 176%. The ICU count increased by 23 patients, or 153%.
The Sedgwick County Health Department does not report daily hospitalization numbers. It only lists current hospitalizations as of Monday mornings.
There were 20 COVID-19 patients at Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Healthcare hospitals in Wichita on June 29. That increased to 63 on July 27. The 43 more hospitalizations was a 215% increase in four weeks. The coronavirus ICU count went from 15 to 32. The increase of 16 patients in the ICU was a percent change of 107%.
Testing
The KDHE reported 96,512 more people had negative test results in July, going from 168,183 to 264,695 negative tests. That was an increase of 57%. Testing increased slower than the rate of new cases, which had an 86% increase in the statewide total.
Sedgwick County reported 24,657 more people were tested. That increased the number from 29,800 to 54,457. That was a percent change of 83%. The county reported a 219% increase in cases.
The percent of tests that come back with positive results more than doubled in July. The rolling 14-day average was 6.23% for July 1, peaked at 13.82% on July 23 and declined to 11.9% on July 31.
Coronavirus clusters
The KDHE reported 128 new coronavirus clusters in July. There were 349 mass outbreaks by the end of the month, which was up 58% from the 221 clusters at the start of the month. The number of active clusters rose by 33, from 108 to 141.
The number of cases attributed to clusters went up by 1,120. The 6,484 cluster cases at the start of the month was 43% of all cases in Kansas. The percentage dropped to 27% by the end of the month, when clusters had 7,604 cases.
The cluster death count went up by 36 — from 205 to 241. The percentage of the state’s deaths that were connected to clusters dropped from 75% to 67%.
The KDHE recently started reporting the number of hospitalizations connected to clusters. There is no data for July 1, but as of July 31, there were 519 hospitalizations tied to clusters.
The deadliest cluster category is long-term care facilities, which had 32 of the 86 new deaths reported in Kansas in July. There were 53 outbreaks at nursing homes as of July 1 with 963 cases and 159 deaths. On July 31, there were 91 nursing home clusters with 1,287 cases, 191 deaths and 250 hospitalizations.
Meatpacking plants have been responsible for more cases than any other type of cluster, but less than 2% of their cases came from the last month. The 12 outbreaks at the packing plants as of July 1 had 3,182 cases and 16 deaths. On July 31, there were 14 meatpacking plant clusters with 3,237 cases, 17 deaths and 100 hospitalizations.
The private business category has the most clusters. There were 95 businesses with clusters on July 1. They had 794 cases and six deaths. There were 130 businesses by July 31 with 994 cases, seven deaths and 62 hospitalizations.
The correctional facility cluster category had one death removed. There were four clusters with 1,026 cases and seven deaths on July 1. On July 31, there were eight outbreaks at correctional facilities with 1,046 cases, six deaths and 16 hospitalizations.
There were 10 clusters at group homes at the start of the month. They had 89 cases and three deaths. At the end of the month, there were outbreaks at 15 group homes with 173 cases, three deaths and 16 hospitalizations.
Health care facilities also had 10 outbreaks at the start of the month. They had 73 cases and no deaths. On July 31, the 17 clusters had 133 cases, one death and five hospitalizations.
July started with four clusters at daycares or schools with 16 cases and no deaths. The month ended with 14 clusters at daycares or schools, 62 cases, zero deaths and zero hospitalizations.
There were four sporting event clusters on July 1 with 29 cases and no deaths. That increased to eight sporting event clusters with 59 cases, no deaths and no hospitalizations.
The gatherings category had 29 clusters with 312 cases and 14 deaths to start the month. It ended the month with 52 outbreaks, 613 cases, 16 deaths and 70 hospitalizations.
The KDHE recently started breaking out different types of gatherings. The numbers for July 31 were 10 clusters at bars or restaurants with 228 cases, no one dead and two hospitalizations. One camp cluster had seven cases with no deaths or hospitalizations. The 29 outbreaks at private events had 225 cases, four deaths and 19 hospitalizations. The 12 religious gatherings that became clusters resulted in 153 cases, 12 deaths and 49 hospitalizations.
The Sedgwick County Health Department reported 18 local clusters at the start of the month and 28 at the end. The number of closed clusters went from six to nine. There were 25 deaths attributed to local clusters on July 1 and 32 deaths on July 31.
The number of nursing home clusters went from nine to 14. Business outbreaks increased from five to eight. Religious institutions went from three to four. Correctional facilities increased from one to two.