Kansas coronavirus trends continue to improve as Sedgwick County’s worsen, data show

New data released Monday on the coronavirus pandemic in Kansas show significant improvement in recent weeks as Sedgwick County’s Friday report showed worsening indicators.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued its regular Monday updates on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Officials say delayed reporting over the holiday weekend may have contributed somewhat to the improving trends, but the state was already seeing better indicators prior to the holiday.

“Kansas has been seeing a decreasing trend for at least the last couple of weeks,” KDHE spokesperson Kristi Zears said Monday in an email. “Numbers today may be impacted somewhat by the holiday, but there has been a decline lately as well.”

The KDHE reported Kansas totals since the start of the pandemic of 259,822 confirmed and probable cases, 3,525 deaths, 7,807 hospitalizations and 2,098 admissions to intensive care units. Those were increases of 3,688 new cases, 23 new deaths, 94 new hospitalizations and 30 new ICU admissions over the weekend.

The KDHE reported Sedgwick County totals of 47,003 cases, 496 deaths, 1,043 hospitalizations and 284 ICU admissions. Those were increases of 557 new cases, one new deaths, 16 new hospitalizations and eight ICU admissions.

The Sedgwick County Health Department did not have an update available early Monday afternoon. The agency on Mondays typically reports the number of current COVID-19 patients and ICU capacity at Wichita’s Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Medical Center hospitals.

Hospital officials across the state are expected to provide regional updates on Tuesday.

Improving trends in Kansas

The rate of new cases and the positive test rate — both of which are key pandemic indicators for school reopening — have seen significant improvement in Kansas, KDHE statistics show.

Statewide, the weekly rate of new cases per capita peaked at 684.2 per 100,000 people for the week beginning Nov. 8. The rate has steadily declined since then, interrupted only by spikes the weeks after Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Last week, the week beginning Jan. 10, had a rate of 129.3 per 100,000. That was less than half the rate of 282.5 per 100,000 for the week beginning Jan. 3, and slightly more than a quarter of the 477 per 100,000 reported for the week beginning Dec. 27.

The KDHE’s report comes with a disclaimer that “current and previous week data may not be complete.” Lagging test results may cause past case rates to rise in future reports.

The statewide positive test rate peaked at 18.30% for the week beginning Nov. 8 and declined to 9.20% for the week beginning Jan. 10. The rate declined every week, except for the week after Christmas.

State data show higher case rates and positive test rates in Sedgwick County, but similar trends of improvement. However, the most recent Sedgwick County Health Department metrics report, which is used by local school districts to make decisions on in-person and online learning models, contradict the KDHE numbers.

The county’s weekly metrics report from Friday shows worsening rates.

The county report’s most recent week of data, for the week beginning Jan. 3, shows a rate of 469.8 new cases per 100,000 people. That was the second week in a row of worsening case rates, and the highest case rate since the week after Thanksgiving.

The county’s positive test rate for the week beginning Jan. 3 was 12.3% — which was the same as the previous week and the highest since the week of Dec. 6.

A new county report with numbers for the past week is expected to be issued on Tuesday.

The White House COVID-19 Task Force set its one-week red zone thresholds at greater than 100 new cases per 100,000 people and a positive test rate greater than 10%. The KDHE and the state’s school reopening guide use two-week rates of greater than 150 new cases per 100,000 people and a positive test rate greater than 15%.

The KDHE’s most-recent data had two-week rates for Sedgwick County of 477 new cases per 100,000 people and 12.15% positivity.

Sedgwick County’s most-recent data had two-week rates of 803.9 new cases per 100,000 people and 12.31% positivity.

The positive test rate is also used as a nursing home metric. Long-term care facilities in counties with a two-week rate above 10% and an adequate level of testing in the community are mandated to test their staff at least twice a week.

This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 2:00 PM.