Kansas health officials identify more COVID-19 clusters in Wichita area. Here’s where
State and local health officials Wednesday identified more coronavirus clusters in the Wichita area.
The Sedgwick County Health Department reported a new COVID-19 outbreak at the Sedgwick County Detention Center, where 13 inmates have tested positive in the most recent outbreak. The jail previously had at least 900 cases in a cluster that peaked in August.
The Sedgwick County Work Release has a new cluster with fewer than five cases, all of which are residents.
The county previously reported a cluster at the facility. It had seven cases as of Oct. 16, at which point it was still an active outbreak.
The county health department reported a cluster of 10 residents and eight staff at Brookdale Tallgrass at 8600 E. 21st St. N.
Grace Cottage at 531 N. Crestline St. has a cluster with six resident cases and nine staff. Derby Health and Rehabilitation at 731 N. Klein Circle has an outbreak that has infected 18 residents and 26 staff.
None of the new outbreaks reported by the county have had a death.
Clusters are generally defined as two or more cases of COVID-19 that are linked to the same location within the same time frame.
Kansas COVID-19 local outbreak list
Cluster statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment show there were 68 new clusters of COVID-19 reported in Kansas in the last week, as well as 99 more deaths connected to the new and existing outbreaks. There were 19 fewer active clusters than a week ago.
The new outbreaks included 25 long-term care facilities, 12 private businesses, eight private events, five schools, five government offices, five group homes, four religious gatherings, two health care facilities, one sports, one correctional facility and one meatpacking plant. There was one fewer daycare cluster listed, as that outbreak was re-categorized.
Most of the new deaths were connected to nursing homes, which combined for 90 more deaths in the last week. Four were from health care clusters and two were from private business outbreaks. There was one new death from a religious gathering, one at a correctional facility and one at a group home,
Kansas has had 1,497 outbreaks of COVID-19, with 443 of those still active.
The KDHE releases a list that names a fraction of the active clusters in the state. It lists the number of cases within the last 14 days, but not the total number of cases or deaths from each outbreak.
The KDHE also identified Grace Cottage, which it listed as a health care facility with 12 cases. It was a new addition to the list.
There were an additional five Wichita nursing homes or other long-term care facilities, and one from Mount Hope that made the list.
Mount Hope Nursing Center has nine cases in the last two weeks. Chaucer Estates’ December cluster has had 20 cases. Homestead Health Center’s cluster has had five cases. Medicalodges of Wichita’s cluster has had 15 cases. Park West Plaza Retirement Community’s cluster has had seven cases. Via Christi Village-McLean’s cluster has had seven cases.
Via Christi and Homestead were new additions to the KDHE list this week, but they were first reported by Sedgwick County last week.
The KDHE also identified the new outbreak at the Sedgwick County Detention Facility, though it listed only 11 cases in the last two weeks.
Maize High School and Maize South High School, each with five cases in the last two weeks, were added back onto the list after previously being removed. Their listings appear to be the same clusters that got them put on the list in November.
Derby High School has had eight cases in the last two weeks. It has had an active cluster since late September.
The KETCH group home has had 11 cases in the last two weeks, while Starkey Inc. has had nine cases.
Also in the Wichita area, an active cluster at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Reno County has had 22 cases in the last two weeks. Trinity Catholic Jr/Sr High School in Hutchinson has had five cases.
In Butler County, El Dorado Correctional Facility has had 85 cases in the last two weeks. Sumner County had two long-term care facilities in Wellington. Botkin Care and Rehabilitation had six cases while Wellington Health and Rehab had nine cases.
In Cowley County, Winfield Senior Living Community Center has had five cases in the last two weeks. In Kingman County, The Wheatlands Health Care Center in Kingman has had 15 cases in the last two weeks.