COVID-19 cases among children rise in latest Sedgwick County figures released Thursday

Children and teenagers made up a greater share of the new coronavirus cases reported in the Wichita area on Thursday than their share of the total number of cases in the county.

The Sedgwick County Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 72 new cases of the coronavirus disease on Thursday, increasing the pandemic’s total to 6,669. The death count stayed at 50.

About 23.6% of the new cases were children or teenagers, an age group that had a disproportionate share of the new cases compared to its share of total cases. The child and teen age group accounts for about 13.6% of the total cases in the county.

That is higher than the statewide number, where about 9% of all cases are in the child age groups, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Children were about 6.3% of the 1,536 new cases reported in Kansas on Wednesday.

One difference in the patient age reporting between the two government agencies is the Sedgwick County data age group includes infants to 19-year-olds while the KDHE data is for infants to 17-year-olds.

Thursday was the only one of the eight most recent days of data where the child and teenager share of new cases was greater than the age group’s share of total cases. It reversed a week-long trend where children and teenagers generally comprised less and less of the case total.

• On Thursday, children were 23% of the new cases and 13.6% of the total cases.
• On Wednesday, children were 10.1% of the new cases and 13.5% of the total cases.
• on Tuesday, children were 13.2% of the new cases and 13.5% of the total cases.
• On Monday, children were 11.6% of the new cases and 13.5% of the total cases.
• On Sunday, children were 12.8% of the new cases and 13.5% of the total cases.
• On Saturday, children were 9% of the new cases and 13.6% of the total cases.
• On Friday, children were 5.5% of the new cases and 13.6% of the total cases.
• On Aug. 20, children were 7.8% of the new cases and 14.4% of the total cases.

Of the 72 new cases reported in Sedgwick County, 17 were in the infant to 19-year-old age group. Both the 20-39 and the 40-59 age groups had 23 new cases. The 60-79 age group had six new cases while the 80 and older age group had four new cases.

One of those new cases was reported on Wednesday with an unknown age. It was assigned to one of the age groups on Thursday.

Three of the new cases were close contacts of another confirmed case. The other 69 new cases are still under investigation for the source of exposure. There are 2,758 total cases still under investigation.

The most recent positive test rate was 10.89% for Tuesday’s numbers. That was revised down from the 12.56% for Tuesday that was reported on Wednesday. The numbers are a rolling 14-day averaged and are updated as more test results are reported.

The county’s positive rate has been between 10.8% and 12.3% all month, based on Thursday’s data.

There have been 76,336 people tested so far in the county, which was an increase of 2,285.

This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 5:26 PM.