Coronavirus updates: Kansas deaths are trending up
COVID-19 deaths in Kansas are trending up, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The KDHE has available data from Aug. 30 to Sept. 13. During that period, deaths per day rose from about 2.5 to just under 4.5. The data lags behind because more recent dates are expected to be incomplete.
The rising death trend is part of a reopen Kansas metric. Daily case rates and hospitalizations are also part of the metric but they are trending down. Those also lag five-days behind.
On Friday, the KDHE reported 1,415 new cases and 10 new deaths.
The new deaths bring the total for the week to 85 deaths or about 14.26% of all 596 Kansas deaths.
The number is more than double any other week since the Kansas Department of Health and Environment started reporting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in May. But the numbers from a record day this week came after the KDHE reviewed and reconciled deaths “reported in our death registration system (along with those reported in our disease surveillance system),” KDHE spokesperson Kristi Zears said in an email.
“This was part of that regular review,” Zears said.
On Wednesday, the KDHE reported 52 deaths, which beat the previous record of 23 set on Sept. 4 and tied on Monday.
The median age of the deaths is 79; the youngest is 18 and the oldest is 106.
The week also ended with the third-highest cases at 3,905; the two highest weeks came at the end of August and beginning of September.
Hospitalizations on Friday increased by 55 to 2,671; negative tests increased by 9,290 to 422,464.
Kansas has a positive testing rate of 7.5% this month, according to the KDHE. The U.S. has a positive testing rate of about 5.1% in September, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.
Sedgwick County had an increase of 163 cases, bringing the total to 8,270 or about 15.8% of the 52,285 cases in Kansas. The Sedgwick County Health Department has reported 81 deaths or about 13.6% of all deaths.
Sedgwick County’s percent positive dropping
Sedgwick County’s percent of positive cases is under 5% for the first time since June 24, according to the Sedgwick County dashboard.
Thursday, the latest day available, was at 4.92%. Although that number could change as calculations are finalized.
Sedgwick County has been mostly dropping since Aug. 21, when the rolling 14-day average reached more than 12%.
The Sedgwick County Health Department also reported an increase of 61 cases, bringing the total to 7,869.
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.
The largest 20-year age group of cases is 20-39, which has 3,344 cases, or about 42% of all cases; second is 40-59 followed by 0-19.
Additional Wichita long-term care facility clusters identified
Seven cases and no deaths have been identified at two newly reported clusters, according to a joint news release from Sedgwick County and the long-term care facilities.
Ascension Living - Via Christi Village Ridge at 3636 N. Ridge in Wichita
- Three cases (one resident, two staff)
- All residents and staff have been tested
- One staff member has already recovered
Larksfield Place at 2828 N. Governeour in Wichita
- Four cases (one resident, three staff)
- Facility-wide testing has occurred
- One staff member has already recovered
The county has had 24 clusters at long-term care facilities, with 467 cases.
Wesley Medical Center lifts no-visitor restriction
The Wesley Medical Center said Friday that starting noon Monday patients would be allowed to have one visitor daily from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The medical center stopped visitations in July as COVID-19 cases climbed. Visitors will need a mask and will be screened and have their temperature checked.
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 4:21 PM.