Wichita-area coronavirus numbers are the best they’ve been since mask orders were issued

Several indicators of the coronavirus pandemic in the Wichita area are the best they have been since mask orders were first issued.

The improvement in COVID-19 statistics in Sedgwick County, as reported by the state and local health departments, is most evident in the school reopening criteria for new cases and the positive test rate.

“I firmly believe that one main reason for the trends moving in the right direction is citizen compliance and wearing masks,” county health officer Dr. Garold Minns said on Thursday. “Thank you to residents for wearing a mask and to business owners for encouraging others to wear masks while in public.”

The measure of new cases is called the county incidence rate in the school gating criteria guide from the Kansas Department of Education. It compares the number of new cases over two weeks with the population.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s numbers for Sedgwick County for the prior two weeks through Saturday were 122 new cases per 100,000 residents. That is the lowest two-week rate since June 27, when it was also 122 cases.

As of July 4, which was the end of the week when masks were first required, the rate was 182 cases and had been rising for six straight weeks. It was also the first time the statistic entered what is now considered the red zone for schools — 151 or more cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks.

It continued to rise for two more weeks, then started to trend downward, aside from a record-high two-week rate of 318 cases on Aug. 22. The high was largely due to a mass outbreak at the Sedgwick County Jail.

The two-week positive test rate in Sedgwick County is also the lowest it has been since mask orders were issued.

As of July 4, the two-week positive rate was 8.30%, based on KDHE numbers. On Saturday, it was 9.06%. That was the first time since July 11 that the two-week positive test rate was below 10%.

Last week also had the fewest tests in Sedgwick County since the week ending June 20.

The positive test percentage from the Sedgwick County Health Department, which is a 14-day rolling average, has been lower than what the KDHE reports.

As of July 3, when Gov. Laura Kelly’s statewide mask order went into effect and Wichita passed a mask ordinance, the positive test rate was 7.61% in Sedgwick County, according to county data. Friday was the first time since then that the rate dropped below that mark, hitting 7.31%.

The rate rose to 8.03% over the last two days, though the number may be revised as more test results are reported.

“Masks are the most effective way to contain this virus right now,” Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said in a Facebook Live video on Saturday.

Kelly issued her statewide mask order just before the Fourth of July holiday, though a new state law allowed counties to opt out. After the Sedgwick County Commission rejected the governor’s order, the Wichita City Council passed its own mask ordinance in a special meeting.

The county’s health officer and the County Commission approved a mask order the next week.

Minns, the health officer, has extended the county’s mask order to Oct. 21. It had been set to expire Tuesday night.

The County Commission may review Minns’s order, though it is not on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting. However, there will be a discussion on a separate order from the governor that requires masks and other safety measures in schools.

Wichita’s mask ordinance is also set to expire Tuesday night. The City Council meets Tuesday and is scheduled to discuss an extension to Oct. 21.

An anti-mask protest has been scheduled during the City Council meeting. Hosted by Songbird Juice Co., the so-called “Freedom To Choose Rally #UnmaskICT” starts at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Century II.

“I would proudly go away in Handcuffs protecting my employed my patrons right to choose without question or shame,” Marty Spence, the owner of Songbird Juice Co., wrote in a comment on the business’s Facebook post about the protest. “My America is one where love wins and equity is given to all. People die everyday. The real question, is whether or not they really lived.”

Wichita police have said they prefer education over enforcement on the face mask law.

Whipple on Saturday pointed to improvements in the positive test rate and the number of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 since the mask ordinance was implemented.

“The reality is, for us to get the economy going again back where it was, we need people to be safe and also feel safe getting back out there doing stuff,” the mayor said. “The only way to do that is to work together to contain COVID. It’s real. And the reality is we have a responsibility to keep ourselves safe, keep our neighbors safe, keep those in a vulnerable population safe and also make sure that as a community we are moving forward to reopen the economy and get back to this new normal until a vaccine comes out or until COVID numbers dramatically drop.”

Monday’s new coronavirus statistics

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 1,694 new cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths attributed to the coronavirus disease over the weekend. There have been a total of 46,914 cases and 485 deaths during the pandemic.

There were 26 more hospitalizations reported between Friday and Monday, bringing the total to 2,441. There were another 7,787 negative tests, putting the total at 389,772.

Of the four patients who died, none were younger than 65 years old. Two of the deaths were in the 65-74 age group while there was one death in each of the 75-84 and the 85 and older age groups.

There was a new hospitalization in every age group except for the infant to 9-year-old group. Two of the new hospitalizations were in Sedgwick County, which had its total rise to 340. One patient was 65-74 and the other was 75-84.

In the Wichita area:

• Sedgwick County had 7,714 cases, which was an increase of 164;

• Reno County had 864 cases, which was an increase of 14;

• Butler County had 686 cases, which was an increase of 166;

• Harvey County had 312 cases, which was an increase of four;

• Cowley County had 280 cases, which was an increase of 10;

• Sumner County had 148 cases, which was an increase of 10;

• Kingman County had 49 cases, which was an increase of four.

Updated KDHE information on clusters was not available due to the Labor Day holiday. Wednesday’s report will be the first time the state identifies active outbreaks by name and location. As of Friday, there were 541 total clusters, of which 181 were active. There had been 10,751 cases and 308 deaths connected to clusters.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reported 7,347 cases on Monday, which was an increase of 43 from Sunday. Discrepancies in the county total between the state and county reports can be due to a delay in reporting, as well as the county only including confirmed cases.

All 43 new cases are still under investigation for the source of exposure to the virus.

The infant to 19-year-old age group added seven cases, the 20-39 group added 20, the 40-59 group added nine, the 60-79 group added three and the 80 and older group added five. Combined, the age groups had 44 new cases, which is due to a case that previously had an unknown age being added in.

Sedgwick County did not report any new deaths on Monday, keeping the total at 56.

Another 1,010 people have been tested in the county, putting the total at 84,357.

The county did not release updated hospitalization and intensive care unit numbers, which are typically reported on Mondays. As of Aug. 31, there were 50 current COVID-19 hospitalizations with 23 in the ICU. Both of those data points were the lowest they had been since July 6.

This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 4:27 PM.