CDC forecasts fewer COVID cases in Wichita area, but not enough to move out of red zone

Local public health officials reported 78 new cases of COVID-19 in one day as national experts predict a decline in new cases over the next month.

The Sedgwick County Health Department’s coronavirus pandemic report for Sunday listed 78 new cases, increasing the cumulative total to 6,265 cases. There were no new deaths, keeping the total at 48.

There were 686 more people tested, bringing the total to 71,843.

Of the new cases, 40 were close contacts of another confirmed case and 38 are still under investigation for the source of exposure.

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said in a Facebook Live video on Saturday that local coronavirus pandemic statistics are improving.

“We have the mask mandate, I think it was put in place late on July 3, and then we saw really a spike in the numbers,” Whipple said. “It takes about three to four weeks to see results. And then we saw it starting sloping a little bit where we started to see that curve bend.”

“Masks are working. There’s still some resistance against masks; I think there’s actually some acceptance where we’re seeing some people with really cool masks.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week projected a continued decline in new cases in Sedgwick County over the next month. However, the county’s CDC forecast would still have a weekly new case rate above 100 per 100,000 population.

The White House considers a rate of 100 or more new cases per 100,000 population per week and a positive test rate greater than 10% to be in the “red zone.”

The CDC also forecasts a decline in new cases per week in Kansas over the next month, but a slight increase in new deaths per week.

Sedgwick County reported 908 new cases since last Sunday’s total of 5,367 cases. With an estimated population of about 516,000 people, the county had a rate of about 176 new cases per 100,000 residents last week.

The latest positive test rate in Sedgwick County was 12.60% for Friday. That is compared to a rate of 12.56% for the previous Friday. The low for last week was 11.74% on Tuesday.

The rate is a rolling 14-day average of the percentages and is revised as new data becomes available. Mass testing at the Sedgwick County Jail inflated the numbers after about 41% of inmates who were tested had positive results. Before the jail results were reported, the county positive rate had dropped below 10% for the first time in more than a month.

The county no longer reports active cases or recoveries. Updated hospital numbers are expected to be released on Monday.