Coronavirus update: Kansas surpasses 200,000 cases
Kansas reported 5,857 additional COVID-19 cases on Friday, which pushes the state past the 200,000 mark.
It took roughly 245 days to reach 100,000 cases and about another 40 days to exceed 200,000 cases, according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment figures. That means the second 100,000 cases were met roughly six times faster than the first 100,000.
The KHDE on Friday also reported 88 more deaths since Wednesday’s report.
The dramatic increases come as a coronavirus vaccine has started to be distributed, but health officials caution that people should stay vigilant because it could be several months before the mass population has access to a vaccine.
The 5,857 new cases and 88 deaths bring the weekly total to 15,132 cases and 269 deaths — the sixth highest week of cases and second for deaths. The worst week of deaths was 286 deaths reported last week. The worst number of weekly cases was 19,026 in mid-November.
A White House document, shared on Thursday by the Center for Public Integrity, shows Kansas had the 10th worst rate of new cases last week; fifth for deaths and fourth for its positivity rate.
November’s 17.5% positive rate of tests was the worst month, according to KDHE data. April, which had 13.7% of tests come back positive, was the only other full month to break double-digits. So far in December, 14.2% of tests have come back positive.
Kansas has had 200,426 cases, 2,341 deaths and 6,175 hospitalizations. The hospitalizations increased by 125 since Wednesday.
The number of adults hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 appears to have slightly dipped this week after hitting a high of 1,282 on Dec. 2, according to records going back to mid-July.
Cases and hospitalizations have impacted all age groups. The majority of deaths are in the 85-plus age group, where 875, or about 37%, of all deaths have occurred. The percentage of deaths drops in each age group below that.
Cases peak in the 25-34 age group, which accounts for 33,542 cases or about 16.7% of all cases. It starts to drop in successive age groups in both directions.
Sedgwick County numbers
The KDHE reported six additional deaths in Sedgwick County since Wednesday, bringing the total to 321. The KDHE first started providing a breakdown of deaths by county this week.
Sedgwick County officials list 236 COVID-19 deaths.
Officials from both organizations say their numbers are right.
The KDHE’s numbers have Sedgwick County counting for nearly 14% of all Kansas deaths. Sedgwick County counted for about 17.5% of the state’s population in the 2010 U.S. Census.
Sedgwick County, according to the KDHE, also has the most cases in the state with 35,106, or about 17.5% of all cases.