Wichita hospital COVID data show ICU admissions up, total hospitalizations down

Sedgwick County’s two primary hospital systems continue to operate with no available beds in their intensive care units as state public health officials report high coronavirus disease case rates across the Wichita area.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday reported 3,572 new COVID-19 cases, 18 new deaths, 52 new hospitalizations and 14 new ICU admissions over the weekend.

There have now been 231,317 confirmed and probable cases in Kansas since the start of the pandemic, leading to 6,955 hospitalizations and 2,897 deaths. More than 1 million tests have been performed.

Sedgwick County has had 41,361 confirmed and probable cases, 407 deaths, 917 hospitalizations and 243 ICU admissions, the KDHE reported. The county had weekend increases of 753 cases, one death, four hospitalizations and one ICU admission.

Intensive care units continue to be operating above capacity at Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Healthcare hospitals in Wichita, according to the Sedgwick County Health Department. Current ICU admissions for COVID-19 are up from last week, though total hospitalizations for the coronavirus disease are down.

As of Monday morning, the two hospital systems were treating 216 total COVID-19 patients with 70 of those in the ICU. Last Monday, the hospitals were treating 219 total COVID-19 patients with 66 of those in the ICU.

The numbers are a snapshot of a single point in time as hospital statistics fluctuate throughout the day.

The health department’s hospital status was listed as “critical,” though “both hospitals are managing through contingency operations.”

The hospitals have not had any ICU beds available since the start of November, according to the health department’s report. There are approximately 208 ICU beds at public hospitals in the city, with non-COVID patients occupying a majority of the beds.

Test rates

The KDHE reports that in the Wichita area, Sedgwick, Reno, Butler, Cowley and Sumner counties are all in the red zone of the nursing home criteria, which is based on a positive test rate above 10%. Long-term care facilities in those counties are required to test their staff at least twice a week.

Harvey County is in the yellow zone with a rate below 10%, so long-term care facilities there must test their staff at least once a week. Kingman County is in the green zone with a rate below 5%, so facilities there must test staff at least once a month.

The testing rules for nursing homes were established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Gov. Laura Kelly.

The KDHE also reports two key school reopening indicators: the two-week positive test rate and the rate of new cases per 100,000 people.

All of the counties in the Wichita area are in the red zone for the two-week case rate. The threshold is 150 new cases per 100,000 people.

The positive test rate’s green, yellow, orange and red zones have thresholds of 5%, 10% and 15%.

Sedgwick County had a new case rate of 778 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 13.89%.

Reno County had a new case rate of 534 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 10.15%.

Butler County had a new case rate of 974 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 14.70%.

Cowley County had a new case rate of 1,166 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 12.63%.

Harvey County had a new case rate of 796 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 7.93%.

Sumner County had a new case rate of 727 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 18.47%.

Kingman County had a new case rate of 391 per 100,000 and a positive test rate of 3.59%.

Calculating disease rates per 100,000 people is common in public health, showing the prevalence of a disease compared to population. The red zone threshold of 150 new cases per 100,000 is equivalent to a rate of 1.5 per 1,000 or 0.15% of the population.

A rate above 1,000 new cases per 100,000 people means more than 1% of the population was diagnosed with the coronavirus disease during the time period. The KDHE’s data was for the two-week period that ended on Saturday.

Kansas prisoner dies

The Kansas Department of Corrections reported that another inmate has died after contracting COVID-19, raising the prison inmate death count to 13.

The inmate was a 65-year-old man who was a resident of the El Dorado Correctional Facility. It was the first COVID-19 death at the El Dorado prison.

He died Monday after testing positive for the coronavirus a week ago and being hospitalized on Saturday. The man, who had been imprisoned since September 2010 serving a 294-month sentence for attempted first-degree murder and second-degree murder, had “underlying medical concerns that contributed to his condition,” a KDOC news release said.

Free salon, spa services offered to health care workers

Eric Fisher Academy is offering free services to health care workers this month.

“It’s hard to put into words the gratitude we have for the tireless commitment and resilience of the healthcare workers in our community,” Christina Jacks, a spokesperson for Eric Fisher salons and academy, said in a statement.

The free services are “a small show of our heartfelt gratitude for their dedication and bravery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jacks said. The offer includes all health care workers and is good for one salon service and one spa service at the 6727 W. Central location, through Jan. 31.

The offer excludes color corrections, balayage, advanced color applications and Brazilian blowouts. Proof of eligibility is required.

This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 1:57 PM.