Coronavirus updates: Median age of Kansas cases now 35; Wichita schools add help centers

The median age of COVID-19 cases in Kansas has dropped to a low of 35 years, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

It had reached a high of 56 years on March 31 before it started to drop. It reached the mid-30s in September and remained there Wednesday. The virus is deadlier for older people but health officials have warned even younger people who are asymptomatic can develop long-term health complications, according to a June 18 publication in peer-reviewed medical journal Nature Medicine.

Wednesday showed an increase of 496 cases, 10 deaths and 29 hospitalizations, bringing the totals to 47,410, 495 and 2,470.

The increase in deaths by age group:

Ages 18-24: One new death, bringing to total to three for less than 1% of the total

Ages 55-64: One new death for a total of 61 or about 12.3% of the total

Ages 65-74: One additional death, for a total of 96 or about 19.4% of all deaths

Ages 75-84: Three new deaths, bringing the total to 119 or about 24%

Ages 85 and up: Four more deaths for a total of 176 or about 35.6%

Hospitalizations saw one increase for the 10-17 age group; two between ages of 25-34; one from 35-44; two in 45-54; four in 55-64; six in 65-74; seven in 75-84; and six in 85 and up.

The largest group of hospitalizations is in the 65-74 age group, with roughly 19.4% of all hospitalizations; ages 55-64 are second with 19.2% and ages 45-54 and 75-84 have 15%.

The state did not report any new hospitalizations in Sedgwick County. However, there were two more ICU admissions and one more patient placed on a ventilator. One more discharge was reported.

Sedgwick County had its cases rise by 49, for a total of 7,763 cases. That’s the second-highest in the state behind Johnson County’s 9,147.

Here’s a look at other counties in the Wichita area:

• Reno County had 872 cases, an increase of eight
• Butler County had 697 cases, an increase of 11
• Harvey County had 313 cases, an increase of one
• Cowley County had 283 cases, an increase of three
• Sumner County had 154 cases, an increase of six
• Kingman County had 49 cases, an increase of zero

Wednesday’s report had the fewest new cases of COVID-19 in months, and the fewest since the governor issued face mask orders. The KDHE only reports updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and the last time the number of new cases was smaller was on June 22, when it was 406.

“It has to do with the Labor Day holiday,” said Kristi Zears, a KDHE spokesperson. “We anticipate we will see more cases towards the end of this week as it gets caught up.”

By age group:

• The infant to 9-year-old group had 13 new cases, bringing the total to 1,357 or about 2.9% of all cases
• 10-17 had 29 new cases, bringing the total to 2,830 cases or about 6% of the total
• 18-24 had 141 new cases, making it 10,303 cases or about 21.7% of all cases
• 25-34 had 69 new cases, bringing the total to 8,613 or roughly 18.2% of the total
• 35-44 had 66 new cases for a total of 7,434 cases or roughly 15.7% of all cases
• 45-54 had 59 new cases for a total of 6,756 cases of about 14.3% of the total
• 55-64 had 53 new cases, bringing the total to 5,096 or roughly 10.7% of all cases
• 65-74 had 32 new cases, making it 2,661 cases or about 5.6% of all cases
• 75-84 had 14 new cases for a total of 1,376 or about 2.9% of the total cases
• 85 and older had 19 new cases, accounting for a total of 940 or about 2% of all cases

One additional case did not have the patient’s age reported.

Wednesday was the first time the KDHE released a list of active coronavirus cluster locations in the state, though less than half of the 177 active clusters met the criteria to be included on the list. The active clusters account for 192 hospitalizations and 63 deaths.

Sedgwick County clusters

Sedgwick County reported five new clusters on Wednesday — four at long-term care facilities and one at a correctional facility.

Long-term care facilities account for at least 37 of the county’s 56 deaths. Sedgwick County has a case-fatality rate of 0.75% compared to long-term care facilities with at least 7.77%

Here is a list of the newly announced clusters:

WellSprings Care Homes at 804 S. Oliver in Wichita

• Six cases (three residents, three staff)
• Facility-wide retesting has occurred

Family Health and Rehab at 639 S. Maize in Wichita

• Five cases (one resident, four staff)
• First round of retesting is complete and a second round of retesting will occur later this week

The Healthcare Resort of Wichita at 7057 W. Village in Wichita

• Six cases (all staff)
• Retesting has occurred and all have recovered

Dove Estates – Memory Haven, 1500 S. 183rd Street West in Goddard

• Nine cases (eight residents, one staff)
• All affected had very mild symptoms
• Retesting will occur later this week

Correctional clusters have been reported at the Sedgwick County Jail and the Wichita Work Release Facility. The location of the third cluster listed Wednesday was not immediately clear.

Sedgwick County reported an increase of 33 new cases for a total of 7,409.

Discrepancies between the state and local health departments in the Sedgwick County case totals can be due to a delay in reporting between the agencies.

Wichita schools add help centers

Wichita Public Schools is opening help centers to provide in-person support for district families. The centers will assist with district-issued technological devices, school-related counseling and bilingual Spanish and Vietnamese translators.

The help centers open Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. They will stay open through Sept. 25. The centers will be at North High School, 1437 N. Rochester; West High School, 820 S. Osage; and the Alvin Morris Administrative Center, 903 S. Edgemoor.

Face masks and social distancing are required.