New COVID deaths in Kansas double previous record as KDHE case count passes 50,000

Kansas and Sedgwick County both set records for the most COVID-19 deaths in a single report.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 971 new cases of COVID-19 and 52 new deaths from the coronavirus disease on Wednesday. There have been a total of 50,870 cases and 586 deaths.

The KDHE also reported 44 new hospitalizations and 4,874 more negative tests. There have now been 2,616 total hospitalizations and 413,356 total negative tests.

There were 67 new cases in Sedgwick County, bringing its total to 8,107.

The 52 deaths reported on Wednesday were the most in any KDHE report since the agency switched from daily reports to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. It is more than double the previous record of 23, which was set on Sept. 4 and tied on Monday.

None of the new deaths were people younger than 35 years old, demographic information shows. Most of the deaths reported on Wednesday were patients 65 or older.

The 35-44 age group had one new death, the 45-54 group had two and the 55-64 group had five. The 65-74 age group had 15 new deaths, the 75-84 group had 14 and the 85 and older group had 15.

Sedgwick County also broke its record for the most deaths in a daily report from the county health department. The county reported 81 total deaths on Wednesday, which was an increase of 12 in one day.

Though the death numbers were reported by the KDHE and Sedgwick County Health Department on Wednesday, it is unclear when the patients died. Statistics on date of death for COVID-19 patients are not released in the same way that death counts are.

Sedgwick County has reported 31 deaths so far this month, though some of those may have been delayed reports.

There have been 49 total deaths connected to clusters in Sedgwick County. That was an increase of two.

The county health department also reported 36 new cases of COVID-19, bringing its total to 7,731. Discrepancies in the case total between the county and state agencies can be due to a delay in communication. Additionally, the state includes probable cases while the county only counts confirmed cases.

Of the 36 new cases, nine were close contacts of another confirmed case and 27 are still under investigation for the source of exposure.

The local positive test rate continues to drop, hitting 5.57% as of Tuesday.

Kansas coronavirus clusters

The KDHE was expected to identify names and locations of active clusters on Wednesday, but did not. Agency officials said they plan to continue the practice next week after making changes based on feedback. Last week was the first time the state identified active cluster locations, though not all met the criteria to be included on the list.

Other information on clusters was released on Wednesday. Those outbreak numbers are released weekly now.

There were 38 new clusters reported since last week, bringing the total to 596. Those outbreaks account for 11,977 cases, 687 hospitalizations and 346 deaths. There were 191 active clusters, which was an increase of two.

That increase includes eight clusters at colleges or universities, one at a school and three connected to sports.

There were 34 more deaths connected to clusters — 32 at nursing home and three at businesses. One of those deaths had previously been reported, but was associated with a cluster at a health care facility.

This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 12:50 PM.