New data shows rural Kansas worse in COVID-19 death rates; Here’s the breakdown

Johnson and Sedgwick counties, which have the largest populations in Kansas, are the Top 2 counties for COVID-19 deaths in the state, but both move far down on the list when accounting for population.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s coronavirus dashboard was updated this week with a new feature that allows users to see how many of the state’s deaths have been in each county. On Friday, it listed 421 deaths in Johnson County, or about 0.69 deaths per 1,000 residents, according to KDHE figures on deaths and population. Sedgwick County had 321 deaths, or about 0.62 deaths per 1,000 residents.

Kansas, overall, has a higher death rate than both, with about 0.80 deaths per 1,000 residents.

Johnson and Sedgwick counties respectively account for about 18% and nearly 14% of the 2,341 deaths but rank 63rd and 73rd in death rates.

Gove County’s 18 deaths for a population of 2,636 gives a death rate of about 6.82 deaths per 1,000 residents, which is the highest rate in the state. Western Kansas counties have four of the Top 5 spots.

Nemaha County was the only county with a population over 10,000 to crack the Top 25.

Here’s a breakdown of the deaths and death rates by county, from highest to lowest:

Contributing: Jason Tidd of The Eagle

This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 7:03 AM.