Sedgwick County surpasses 50,000 cases of COVID-19, or about 9.7% of population

Sedgwick County has now surpassed 50,000 cases of COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic reached Kansas in March.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday reported 50,270 total cases of COVID-19 in Sedgwick County, which is the most of any county in the state. Sedgwick County’s cases have culminated in 1,231 hospitalizations, 348 admissions to intensive care units and 537 deaths.

About 9.7% of the county’s population has tested positive at some point during the pandemic. About 1.1% of those patients have died from COVID-19.

A status update on Wichita hospitals was not immediately available from the Sedgwick County Health Department early Monday afternoon. Neither were vaccine updates from Sedgwick County and the KDHE.

Statewide, there have been 276,668 cases, 8,489 hospitalizations, 2,311 ICU admissions and 3,809 deaths.

Over the weekend, Kansas recorded 1,983 new cases, 72 new hospitalizations, 21 new ICU admissions and 30 new deaths. Sedgwick County had 386 of those cases, 24 of the hospitalizations, three of the ICU admissions and four of the deaths.

In school gating criteria, the KDHE reported that Sedgwick County has a two-week rate of 304.8 new cases per 100,000 people, which is more than double the red zone threshold. The positive test rate was 8.93%, which is toward the upper end of the yellow zone. Trends for both numbers are improving.

This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 1:03 PM.