Kansas reports 8 more deaths, 64 new hospitalizations and 817 new cases of COVID-19

Public health officials have reported eight more deaths in Kansas attributed to the coronavirus disease.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment update on COVID-19 for Wednesday listed 817 new cases and eight more deaths since Monday. There have now been 32,547 total confirmed and probable cases in the state, resulting in 395 deaths so far.

There have been 64 more hospitalizations, bringing the total to 1,975. Another 7,077 negative tests were reported, putting the total at 302,016. Eleven more coronavirus clusters were reported in the state.

The KDHE reported 5,334 cases in Sedgwick County, an increase of 127.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reported 5,068 cases.

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 confirmed and probable cases.

Less than 1% of the cases reported by the KDHE in Sedgwick County have not been confirmed.

The county health department’s report was an increase of 78 cases from Tuesday. Of that number, 62 are still under investigation for the source of exposure. The 16 other cases were close contacts of another confirmed case.

Active cases dropped by four to 2,813 in Sedgwick County as recoveries jumped by 82 to 2,209. The county did not report any new deaths, keeping its total at 46.

More than 10% of the population has been tested, both statewide and locally. The KDHE reports a testing rate of 114.84 people per 1,000 population. The state reports 54,976 tests in Sedgwick County for a testing rate of 106.5 per 1,000.

The county health department reports 63,537 total people tested, an increase of 670.

The local 14-day average positive test percentage has stayed between 10% and 11% for about a week. It was 10.77% on Aug. 5 and was 10.39% on Tuesday, which is the most recent day with data available. At the latest testing rate, there would be 76 positives out of the 670 new people tested.

The Kansas Hospital Association puts the statewide death rate per infection at 1.2% and the hospitalization rate at 6.2%.

Coronavirus disease hospitalizations

There have been 64 more hospitalizations, bringing the total to 1,975. There were 14 more admissions to intensive care units and one more patient placed on a ventilator. There have now been 548 ICU admissions and 195 on ventilators.

The number of discharged patients increased by 48 and now totals 1,367.

The state reported 14 more hospitalizations and two more ICU admissions in Sedgwick County. There were nine more discharges. There have been a total of 251 hospitalizations, 50 ICU admissions, 14 patients on mechanical ventilation and 143 discharges in the county.

In addition to the cumulative hospital numbers, the KDHE also reports daily hospital capacity numbers. The source of the KDHE data is a national database that hospitals report their numbers to. The most recent data may not be complete.

As of Tuesday, the most recent day with available data, 357 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide. Of that number, 95 were in the ICU and 29 were on ventilators. Including the coronavirus disease patients, 513 ICU beds were in use statewide, so 40% of the 955 ICU beds were available.

The hospitalization and ICU statistics were higher than Monday’s numbers, when 303 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide and 85 were in the ICU. There were 31 patients on ventilators. About 45% of the state’s 929 ICU beds were available.

The KDHE reported 134 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the south-central region on Tuesday, up from 115 on Monday. There were 40 in the ICU and 10 on ventilators, compared to 38 in the ICU and 13 on ventilators on Monday. The regional ICU availability went from 39% of 369 ICU beds on Monday to 35% of 384 ICU beds on Tuesday.

Demographics

Of the 78 new cases reported by the Sedgwick County Health Department, 11 of the patients were children or teenagers. The next age group, 20-39, had the largest increase with 28 new cases. The 40-59 age group added 21, the 60-79 age group added 14 and four of the patients were 80 or older.

In local cases where racial information is available, the case rate per population had disproportionate increases among minorities. While the white case rate rose by 10 cases per 100,000 residents, the Black rate rose by 13 cases and the rate for all other races rose by 14 cases. Racial information is available in about 70% of cases.

About 54% of local patients have been women.

The KDHE reports some demographic information for cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Children account for about 9% of the new cases. The infant to 9-year-old age group had 26 new cases and the 10-17 age group had 50.

The four age groups for people between 18 and 54 each had more than 100 new cases. There were 138 new cases in the 18-24 age group, 146 cases among ages 25-34, 151 cases in the 35-44 age group and 107 cases among ages 45-54.

There were 91 new cases among patients ages 55-64, 52 cases in the 65-74 age group, 30 cases in the 75-84 age group and 20 cases among people who were 85 and older. Six of the new cases had no age reported.

With the 64 new hospital admissions in Kansas, the infant to 9-year-old age group was the only one without any new hospitalizations. The local increase of 14 hospitalizations included one more patient in the 25-34 age group, two more in both the 35-44 and 45-54 age groups, three more in the 55-64 age group and six more in the 75-84 age group.

Of the eight new deaths, four were men and four were women. Men account for about 57% of all deaths.

Six were white, one was Black and the other did not have race information reported. One was Hispanic, five were not Hispanic and two did not have ethnicity information reported.

The death rate per population is about 40% higher for Hispanic people than non-Hispanic people, and Black people have a death rate 179% higher than white people. American Indians and Asians have death rates lower than whites while all other races combined have a higher death rate.

None of the new deaths were patients younger than 55 years old. The 55-64 and 75-84 age groups each had one more death, the 65-74 age group had two more deaths and the 85 and older age group had four more deaths.

Less than 10% of the COVID-19 deaths in Kansas were patients younger than 55. The youngest patient to die was 18. The oldest was 99 and the median is 78.

County COVID-19 comparisons

The 817 new cases in Kansas was a 2.6% increase over two days. Of the 28 counties with at least 100 cases, 13 had greater percentage increases. That includes the Wichita area counties of Butler, Cowley, Harvey and Reno, which had the greatest percent change. Sedgwick County had a smaller percent increase than the state as a whole.

Seven counties had increases of less than one percent, and one county had no increase.

The 28 Kansas counties with at least 100 cases:

• Johnson County has 6,120 cases, an increase of 207 cases or 3.5%.
• Wyandotte County has 5,182 cases, an increase of 119 cases or 2.4%.
• Sedgwick County has 5,334 cases, an increase of 127 cases or 2.4%.
• Ford County has 2,191 cases, an increase of seven cases or 0.3%.
• Finney County has 1,715 cases, an increase of two cases or 0.1%.
• Shawnee County has 1,653 cases, an increase of 65 cases or 4.1%.
• Leavenworth County has 1,532 cases, an increase of 19 cases or 1.3%.
• Seward County has 1,168 cases, an increase of 10 cases or 0.9%.
• Douglas County has 758 cases, an increase of 12 cases or 1.6%.
• Lyon County has 695 cases, an increase of 10 cases or 1.5%.
• Riley County has 446 cases, an increase of one case or 0.2%.
• Crawford County has 405 cases, an increase of four cases or 0.1%.
• Saline County has 373 cases, an increase of three cases or 0.8%.
• Reno County has 360 cases, an increase of 69 cases or 23.7%.
• Butler County has 314 cases, an increase of 13 cases or 4.3%.
• Harvey County has 218 cases, an increase of nine cases or 4.3%.
• Franklin County has 211 cases, an increase of 12 cases or 6%.
• Geary County has 202 cases, an increase of eight cases or 4.1%.
• Cowley County has 178 cases, an increase of five cases or 2.9%.
• Montgomery County has 163 cases, an increase of one case or 0.6%.
• McPherson County has 159 cases, an increase of six cases or 3.9%.
• Jackson County has 154 cases, an increase of three cases or 2%.
• Miami County has 151 cases, an increase of seven cases or 4.9%.
• Labette County has 149 cases, an increase of seven cases or 4.9%.
• Ellis County has 148 cases, which is no change.
• Cherokee County has 139 cases, an increase of 12 cases or 9.4%.
• Barton County has 128 cases, an increase of 11 cases or 9.4%.
• Pottawatomie County has 117 cases, an increase of two cases or 1.7%.

Coronavirus clusters

With the 11 new coronavirus clusters reported by the KDHE on Wednesday, there have been 408 mass outbreaks. There are 123 active clusters. The clusters account for 8,135 cases, 560 hospitalizations and 257 deaths.

The deadliest cluster category is nursing homes, which are responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 deaths in Kansas. The 109 outbreaks at long-term care facilities account for 1,427 cases, 275 hospitalizations and 203 deaths.

There have been more clusters at private businesses than any other category. The 149 business outbreaks account for 1,099 cases, 66 hospitalizations and seven deaths.

Two cluster categories have not been linked to any deaths or hospitalizations. The nine outbreaks at sporting events account for 66 cases while the 15 outbreaks at daycares or schools account for 80 cases.

The gatherings category is broken down into four sections. The nine outbreaks in gatherings at bars and restaurants have infected 221 people and hospitalized two, but no deaths have been reported. Two camps have had clusters with 29 cases and no hospitalizations or deaths. The outbreaks at 36 private events have infected 275, hospitalized 21 and killed five. The 14 clusters at religious gatherings are responsible for 160 cases, 50 hospitalizations and 12 deaths.

Correctional facilities have had 12 outbreaks with 1,134 cases, 16 hospitalizations and six deaths. Group homes have had 17 outbreaks with 186 cases, 16 hospitalizations and five deaths.

There have been clusters at 20 health care facilities, infecting 172 people, hospitalizing 10 and killing two. The 16 clusters at meatpacking plants have infected 3,286 people, hospitalized 104 and killed seven.

One new nursing home cluster was reported in Sedgwick County. The local health department has reported 16 nursing home clusters, 10 outbreaks at businesses, four at religious institutions and two at correctional facilities.

This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 12:38 PM.