Three more COVID-19 clusters reported at Sedgwick County adult homes, officials say

Clusters have been reported at three more long-term care facilities in Sedgwick County.

Sedgwick County on Friday reported the 48 cases at three clusters in a joint release with the facilities — clusters at five long-term care facilities were reported on Thursday. The Sedgwick County COVID-19 dashboard shows a total of 44 clusters at long-term care facilities. Those clusters account for 934 of the 16,800-plus cases in Sedgwick County, or about 5.5%, the dashboard shows. A Sedgwick County spokesperson said long-term care facilities account for 79 of the 137 deaths in Sedgwick County, or nearly 58%.

The latest clusters do not have deaths associated with them.

Here’s a closer look at those clusters:

New Hope Valley Center at 821 W. 3rd in Valley Center

• Five staff and 10 residents have tested positive
• Employees are tested twice weekly, and residents are tested weekly
• Two rounds of testing have been completed, with no additional positive cases.

The Oxford Grand at New Market at 3051 N. Parkdale in Wichita

• 10 staff and 19 residents have tested positive
• All staff were tested or “will be tested before returning to the community”
• All residents have been tested except one who refused to be tested. Precautions are being taken against that person as if they were positive.

Wichita Presbyterian Manor at 4700 W. 13th Street North

• Three staff and one resident have tested positive
• Staff are completing “biweekly testing on Mondays and Wednesdays”
• Residents in the healthcare area were randomly tested on Nov. 9 and will be tested again on Nov. 16 due to the positive resident case. Residents in another unit will be tested on Nov. 16 because of possible exposure from a positive employee.

Across the country, officials have struggled with clusters at long-term care facilities. In Kansas, clusters at long-term care facilities account for 563 of the 1,256 deaths, or about 45%.

A cluster is typically considered active until 28 days have passed without any new cases. A cluster is generally defined as two or more cases of COVID-19 with a common place and time.

This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 4:42 PM.