Kansas has 41 new COVID deaths, 144 more hospitalizations in first report since Christmas
Kansas public health officials reported 41 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the state’s first update since Christmas.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday reported the increase spanned five days, since the last update on Wednesday. There have now been 2,548 deaths in the state attributed to the coronavirus disease. The dates of death for those patients are not publicly released.
The five-day increase was due to the KDHE not issuing a report on Friday because of the holiday.
The KDHE also reported 6,373 new cases and 144 new hospitalizations over those five days. Kansas has now had 216,062 total cases with 6,568 hospitalizations.
Sedgwick County has had 38,023 of those cases, which was an increase of 1,048. Two of the new deaths were patients who lived in Sedgwick County, raising the county’s death total as reported by the KDHE to 351.
The Sedgwick County Health Department reports a significantly lower death total of 256, which was an increase of five over the past five days. Both the state and local health departments say their death totals are accurate, citing the KDHE’s verified statistics.
The county health department also reports a significantly lower case count at 30,521. The discrepancy is primarily due to the county only including confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state counts probable cases, including those identified through rapid antigen tests, as recommended in guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 144 new hospitalizations statewide were accompanied by 40 more admissions to intensive care units. Sedgwick County accounted for 27 of those hospitalizations and six of those ICU admissions.
The county health department reported that Wichita ICUs remain full at Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Healthcare hospitals, though the situation is improving. As of Monday morning, the two hospital systems were treating 219 COVID-19 patients combined, with 66 of those in ICUs. Those are decreases from last week’s totals of 237 COVID-19 patients with 81 in ICUs.
All approximately 208 ICU beds remain full, and the hospital status remains “critical.”
The local health department reports current hospitalization information on Mondays, showing a snapshot in time as patient admissions and discharges fluctuate.
The KDHE’s data show Sedgwick County and much of the state remain in the red zone of two key pandemic indicators: the rate of new cases per 100,000 people and the positive test rate. The indicators generally show improvement over the past month, aside from a surge in the week after Thanksgiving.
Sedgwick County’s two-week rates were 615 new cases per 100,000 people and 16.56% test positivity. The state’s red zone thresholds are set at above 150 new cases per 100,000 people and 15% positivity.
Most counties in the state have positive test rates above 10%, which is nursing home criteria threshold set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Long-term care facilities in counties with high positivity rates are required to test their staff at least twice a week.
Coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities account for approximately 40% of the COVID-19 deaths in Kansas. The KHDE reports cluster updates on Wednesdays.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 2:21 PM.