Coronavirus updates: Clusters at faith gatherings have higher hospital, death rates

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported a two-day increase on Friday of 976 COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths, bringing the totals to 48,386 and 511.

Hospitalizations rose by 67 to 2,537.

Clusters increased by 16 to 558. Those clusters saw increases in cases, deaths and hospitalizations of 327, four and 13. Clusters account for 11,253 cases, or about 23% of all cases; 312 deaths or about 61%; and 661 hospitalizations or roughly 26% of all hospitalizations.

Here a breakdown of cluster cases and how many of those led to hospitalizations and deaths:

Bars and restaurants: 14 clusters with 272 cases, four hospitalizations and zero deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 1.47%; case-fatality rate is 0%

Camp: four clusters with 47 cases and no hospitalizations or deaths

College or university: 25 clusters with 473 cases and no hospitalizations or deaths

Corrections: 16 clusters with 2,297 cases, 22 hospitalizations and six deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 0.95%; case-fatality rate is 0.26%

Daycare: 14 clusters with 50 cases and no hospitalizations or deaths

Government: Seven clusters with 54 cases and five hospitalizations and no deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate 9.25%

Group living: 11 clusters with 111 cases, 12 hospitalizations and four deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 10.81%; case-fatality rate is 3.60%

Healthcare: 29 clusters with 180 cases, 18 hospitalizations and 4 deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 10%; case-fatality rate is 2.22%

Long-term care facilities: 160 clusters with 2,235 cases, 336 hospitalizations and 254 deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 15.03%; case-fatality rate is 11.36%

Meat packing: 16 clusters with 3,470 cases, 108 hospitalizations and 19 deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 3.11%; case-fatality rate is 0.54%

Private business: 153 clusters with 1,159 cases, 69 hospitalizations and seven deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 5.93%; case-fatality rate is 0.60%

Private event: 54 clusters with 377 cases, 25 hospitalizations and five deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 6.63%; case-fatality rate is 1.32%

Public event: Two clusters with 16 cases, two hospitalizations and no deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 12.5%

Religious gathering: 23 clusters with 249 cases, 56 hospitalizations and 13 deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 22.48%; case-fatality rate is 5.22%

School: 11 clusters with 91 cases, three hospitalizations and no deaths; cases divided by hospitalizations rate is 3.29%

Sports: 16 clusters with 153 cases, one hospitalization and no deaths; cases divided by hospitalization rate is 0.65%

Travel: Three clusters with 19 cases, no hospitalizations or deaths

The KDHE released information this week detailing active clusters. Private businesses only appeared if they had 20 or more cases.

Gov. Laura Kelly, who had opposition from several statewide business groups about releasing cluster details, said by sharing the information, “Kansans will be better informed about the threat of COVID-19 in their schools and communities, and will be better prepared to contain and stop the spread of the virus.”

Sedgwick County adds seven deaths

The Sedgwick County dashboard listed seven additional deaths on Friday, bringing the total to 63.

The deaths occurred from late August through this week but were recorded in Friday’s figures, according to Sedgwick County officials.

Cases increased by 45 to 7,487. Sedgwick County has the second-most cases in the state behind Johnson County, according to the KDHE.

Additionally, the county reported 1,318 new tests, pushing the total to 86,895 people tested. The county had a percent positive rate of 8.61%.

Kansas has a percent positive rate of 10.8%. The national rate is about 7.52%, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

In Sedgwick County, the percent of positive cases has been mostly dropping since Aug. 21, when it was roughly 12%, according to the Sedgwick County Health Department’s 14-day rolling average. It was at 6.7% on Thursday, the latest day available. Sedgwick County had a percent positive high of about 14.1% on July 23.

Ascension Via Christi eases visitation restrictions

Because of “current community conditions,” Ascension Via Christi’s Wichita hospitals have eased visitor restrictions, the healthcare system said in a news release. Ascension Via Christi St. Francis, St. Joseph, St. Teresa and the Ascension Via Christi Rehabilitation Hospital started allowing patients, except for those undergoing COVID-19 treatment, to have one visitor per day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

“We recognize the important role family plays in the healing process and are allowing, or restricting, visitation as dictated by what we are seeing in terms of the spread of infection,” Ascension Via Christi’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Strecker said in the release. “Our first priority is the safety of our patients and staff.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 4:11 PM.