Kansas reports youngest person in state to die from COVID
Until this week, the youngest person reported to have died of COVID-19 in Kansas was 18. On Friday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Friday reported that a 6-year-old had died.
The KDHE’s Friday report included 2,647 new COVID-19 cases, 102 hospitalizations and 206 deaths since Wednesday. The deaths included the 6-year-old.
The 6-year-old died in November but a death certificate wasn’t finalized until this week, according to KDHE spokesperson Kristi Zears.
“Due to patient privacy laws, we are unable to provide further details about the individual,” Zears said in an email.
COVID-19 has more adverse effects on older people but children are not immune. Michigan has had a 2-month-old die from COVID-19. A 1-year-old has died in Georgia.
In Kansas, the 85 and up age group has had the most deaths, with 37.8% of the state’s 4,101 deaths. The number of deaths drops in all but one successive age group below the 85 and up age group.
Here is the breakdown:
- Ages 0-9: one death
- Ages 18-24: seven deaths
- Ages 25-34: 21 deaths
- Ages 35-44: 50 deaths
- Ages 45-54: 139 deaths
- Ages 55-64: 372 deaths
- Ages 65-74: 741 deaths
- Ages 75-84: 1,220 deaths
- Ages 85 and up: 1,549 deaths
The 206 deaths put Kansas over the 4,000 mark.
It took more than seven months to break 1,000 deaths; about one and a half months to reach 2,000; about 3.5 weeks to reach 3,000 and about a month to break 4,000.
The 4,000-plus deaths prompted Gov. Laura Kelly to order flags be lowered to half-staff on Saturday.
“It is with great sadness that I am once again ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff in honor of the Kansans who have lost their lives to COVID-19,” Kelly said in a news release.
The 206 deaths reported since Wednesday were the largest single report and the only one to break 200 since the KDHE started reported figures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in mid-May. Zears said the record number included a review of death certificates, meaning the deaths could have happened before the last report on Wednesday — such as the case of the 6-year-old.
Cases and deaths have been decreasing since reaching highs in late December.
The 206 deaths and 2,647 cases reported Friday bring the weekly totals to 322 deaths and 6,832 cases. The cases represent a continued drop over the last five weeks. There were 18,056 cases five weeks ago. Deaths have ebbed and flowed during that span.
Vaccine
About 7.5% of Kansans have now received a vaccine, up from 6.8% on Wednesday, the KDHE reported. That percentage includes 218,168 people who have received a first dose, up from 198,350 on Wednesday, and 60,277 people who received a second dose, up from 51,374.
Sedgwick County
Sedgwick County saw its COVID-19 cases increase by 718 to 51,518, the KDHE reported. Sedgwick County has the most cases in the state.
Deaths reported since Wednesday increased by 35 to 580, data shows.
The Sedgwick County Health Department has reported administering 20,925 doses of the vaccine. Other organizations in Sedgwick County have dispensed the vaccine as well, but those figures are not available. The health department’s data shows vaccines started to be administered in late December and people started getting second doses on Jan. 19.
The health department is currently vaccinating residents 80 and older and health care workers.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 2:09 PM.