Kansas reports 7 new deaths and 1,545 new COVID cases plus 2 clusters in education

State public health officials reported 1,545 new cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths attributed to the coronavirus disease over the weekend as local officials reported the most hospital patients in intensive care since tracking began.

The new cases and deaths bring the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s statewide totals to 38,401 cases and 426 deaths. There were also 24 new hospitalizations and 19,241 new negative tests reported on Monday, bringing those totals to 2,183 hospitalizations and 348,556 negative tests.

More than 100 of the new cases were children, as the infant to 9-year-old age group added 34 cases and the 10-17 age group added 79. No child deaths have been reported by the KDHE.

Eleven new coronavirus clusters were reported, including an outbreak at a college or university and an outbreak at a school or daycare.

Cases have now been reported in all 105 counties in Kansas. The KDHE reported 266 new cases in Sedgwick County, bringing its total to 6,652.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reported 6,351 cases, which was an increase of 86 from Sunday.

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.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Wichita hospitals as of Monday morning declined for the third week in a row, but the number in intensive care increased for the second consecutive week. The county only updates hospital statistics on Mondays and includes patients at Wesley Healthcare and Ascension Via Christi facilities.

The increase in ICU patients puts the estimated ICU capacity at the lowest it has been since the county health department changed its hospital reporting method last month. There are approximately 19 ICU beds available out of the estimated capacity of 208.

There were 59 COVID-19 patients hospitalized on Monday, down from 63 a week ago and a high of 72 on Aug. 3. The 35 COVID-19 patients in the ICU was up from 32 last week and is the highest it has been since tracking by the local health department began June 29.

The area hospital status assessment remained “moderate” with a yellow exclamation point. The term has not been defined by county officials.

The trend in the positive test percentage showed a small one-day dip, though it is still above 10%. That threshold is considered to be in the orange zone by local and state education officials, but in the red zone by White House standards.

The latest numbers showed a 14-day rolling average positive test rate of 12.24% for Sunday, down from 12.48% on Saturday. The Friday value was 12.12%. The positive rate is revised as more test results are reported.

There were 732 more people tested in the county, raising the total to 72,575.

Of the 86 new cases reported by the county, 39 were close contacts of another confirmed case. The other 47 cases are still under investigation for the source of exposure to the infection.

Ten of the new local cases were people in the infant to 19-year-old age group. The 20-39 age group had the most new cases at 41. The 40-59 age group added 30 and the 60-79 age group added five. There were no new cases in the 80 and older age group.

The county did not report any new deaths, keeping the total at 48.

Kansas COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths

New coronavirus patients are trending younger, as are new deaths. The median age or all patients dropped from 38 to 37 over the weekend, and the median age of those who have died went from 79 to 78.

The youngest Kansan to have COVID-19 listed as their cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death was 18 years old.

Of the seven new deaths in Kansas reported on Monday, one was in the 55-64 age group, two were in the 65-74 group, three were in the 75-84 group and one was 85 or older.

None of the 24 new hospitalizations in Kansas were children. Every other age group had at least one more patient hospitalized over the weekend.

Six more patients were admitted to intensive care units, bringing the ICU total to 590. Two more were placed on ventilators, bringing the total to 205. Fifteen more patients were discharged, putting the total at 1,535 discharges reported to the KDHE.

The state data shows no new hospitalizations and one new discharge in Sedgwick County.

The KDHE also reports daily hospital capacity data. The statistics come from a national database that depends on reporting from individual hospitals. The most recent data may be incomplete.

The numbers for Sunday, which is the most recent day with available data, show 189 total COVID-19 patients in Kansas hospitals with 64 of those in the ICU. About 47% of the 697 ICU beds were available. There were 72 hospitals reporting.

The Friday numbers had 118 hospitals reporting with 298 total COVID-19 patients hospitalized and 83 of those in the ICU. About 40% of the 965 ICU beds were available.

Sunday’s numbers for the south-central Kansas hospital region had 42 total COVID-19 patients with 25 of those in the ICU and about 53% of the 223 ICU beds available. There were 15 hospitals reporting. Friday’s numbers had 31 hospitals reporting with 117 total patients, 40 in the ICU and about 34% of 392 ICU beds available.

Kansas coronavirus clusters

The KDHE reports 464 total clusters — 150 of which are active — with 9,345 cases, 600 hospitalizations and 276 deaths. There were 11 new outbreaks identified over the weekend, and the totals increased by 233 cases, two hospitalizations and three deaths.

Two of those deaths were connected to nursing homes and one was traced to an outbreak at a health care facility.

There was one new outbreak at a college or university, bring the category total to six clusters with 82 cases. The one new school or daycare with an outbreaks brings its total to 16 clusters with 81 cases and two hospitalizations.

The deadliest cluster category — nursing homes — have for new outbreaks. There have now been 129 outbreaks at long-term care facilities, with 1,751 cases, 297 hospitalizations and 216 deaths.

One more health care facility has a cluster. There have been 23 medical facilities with outbreaks, contributing 203 cases, 12 hospitalizations and two deaths.

Two more private gatherings have had outbreaks. There have been 36 total private event clusters, with 261 cases, 22 hospitalizations and five deaths.

There was one new cluster at a bar or restaurant and one new cluster at a private business. There have been 12 bar or restaurant outbreaks, with 255 cases and four hospitalizations. The 154 private business clusters have 1,200 cases with 71 hospitalizations and eight deaths.

This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 12:53 PM.