Fewer coronavirus cases reported in Sedgwick County as positive test rate drops

Fewer cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Wichita area as the positive coronavirus test rate has dropped.

Data from the Sedgwick County Health Department shows a downward trend in the positive test rate, which is one criteria for reopening schools. On Tuesday, the latest positive percentage was 8.05%. The number is a rolling 14-day average and is updated as more test results are reported.

Wednesday was the last time the positive test rate was above 10%, which is one of several thresholds for moving middle and high school classes online and canceling sports in Wichita.

The number of new daily cases reported has also generally declined in that time. The county health department reported 32 new cases on Tuesday. That compares to 87 on Monday, 34 on Sunday, 63 on Saturday, 40 on Friday, 72 on Thursday and 193 on Wednesday.

The 32 new cases on Tuesday brought the Sedgwick County cumulative total to 6,925. No new deaths were reported, keeping the total at 50. There have been 80,133 people tested in the county, which was an increase of 338.

One of the new cases was a close contact of another confirmed case. The other 31 cases are still under investigation for the source of exposure.

The infant to 19-year-old age group had seven of the new cases, the 20-39 group added eight, the 40-59 group added nine, the 60-79 group added five and the 80 and older group added three.

The county also reported four new nursing home clusters, as well as one more at a religious institution. There have now been mass outbreaks at 20 nursing homes, five religious institutions, 12 businesses and two correctional facilities.

School gating criteria

The Board of Education for Wichita Public Schools meets Tuesday evening to review its decision to cancel fall sports and move all middle and high school classes online for the first nine weeks. Elementary school parents have the choice of sending their children to in-person classes or keeping them at home for remote learning.

The school board bases its reopening decisions on a color-coded matrix adapted from the Kansas Department of Education’s gating criteria.

The two-week positive test percentage is one of the data points that factors into the decision. With the move below 10%, the statistic shifted from the orange zone, where the district was two weeks ago, to the yellow zone. Under the yellow zone, all students would have the option of attending in-person classes. Several extracurricular activities would be permitted, but there would be no football, choir or other high-risk activities.

All of the gating criteria statistics appear to have improved since the Aug. 20 decision on school reopening, but not all of the statistics have improved enough to move into a better color zone.

The latest recovery and reopening metrics report from the Sedgwick County Health Department was issued on Monday. It shows weekly numbers. Several of the school reopening statistics call for two-week statistics, which can be calculated from the chart.

The chart’s most recent numbers are subject to change as more test results are reported.

Another school reopening criteria is the county incidence rate, which improved, but not enough to leave the red zone. There have been about 176 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, which is above the 151 new cases that is the starting point for the red zone. Last week’s rate for the previous two weeks was 288 new cases.

While that number is in the red zone, a related statistic is in the green zone. That criteria is the trend in the county incidence rate, which has been decreasing.

The state education department has another criteria, though the Wichita school board removed it from its matrix. That number is a measure of hospital capacity, which health officials have interpreted as the percentage of available intensive care beds.

Sedgwick County only reports new hospital numbers on Mondays. The hospital data prior to the Aug. 20 school board meeting showed about 10.6% of ICU beds were available at Wesley Healthcare and Ascension Via Christi. That number was in the orange zone, which runs from 10% to 20%.

The number moved into the red zone last week when it dropped to 9.1%. It is back in the orange zone this week at 15.4%.

If Wichita’s school board uses the hospital numbers, it will have an indicator in all four of the color zones: green, yellow, orange and red.

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 2:58 PM.