Coronavirus updates: Wichita mayor says ‘we’re heading in the right direction’

Wichita and Sedgwick County are trending down in hospitalizations and the percent of positive COVID-19 cases for the first time in weeks, Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said during a Facebook Live on Saturday.

Both of those indicators, along with deaths, are better indicators of community spread than cases since that is only going to go up, health officials have said.

“We’re heading in the right direction, but we all got to work together on this,” Whipple said.

On Saturday, the Sedgwick County Health Department reported an increase of 86 cases, bringing the total to 5,299. The number of deaths was unchanged, at 47.

The percent of positive cases has been mostly climbing since May 27 when it was just under 1%. It reached a high of more than 14% on July 23 and has been mostly dropping since. It has been between 10 and 11% since Aug. 5.

Although, Whipple noted, more than 10% puts Sedgwick County in a “red zone,” according to a White House document.

Hospitalizations are reported each Monday. COVID-19 patients and ICU patients had been trending up each week since July 6 before dropping on Monday.

Of the 86 new cases announced on Saturday, 34 were in the 20-39 age group, which has the most cases of any age group, at 2,174, or about 41%. Ages 40-59 saw the second-biggest increase, with 25 cases. That age group has the second-most cases, with 1,508, or about 28%.

Active cases continue to climb. It was 2,823 on Friday, the latest day available. Active cases are cases minus recoveries and deaths.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports figures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The latest report listed 402 deaths and 33,885 cases.

This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 3:32 PM.