Editorials
Kansas is worst in U.S. for coronavirus testing. Until we fix that, we can’t reopen
Three weeks into a statewide stay-at-home order, many Kansans already are asking when we can reopen for business.
That’s understandable, given the devastating effects the pandemic has inflicted on our daily lives and the economy.
But a troubling statistic nags at Kansas — and the Wichita area in particular — which should temper any talk of lifting the order and returning to our old habits.
In the U.S., Kansas ranks at the bottom in the number of per-capita tests for the coronavirus.
Data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, a nationwide website managed by volunteer analysts and journalists, show that wide disparities exist among states when it comes to testing for the novel coronavirus and reporting results.
But Kansas is at the very bottom — 51st in the nation, on a list that includes the District of Columbia — with a rate of 4.95 tests per 1,000 people.
That’s well below the national average of 10.78 and drastically behind coronavirus hot-spot states like New York, which on Wednesday reported a testing rate of nearly 27.5 tests per 1,000 people.
The numbers for Sedgwick County are even worse. Despite three deaths, 217 confirmed cases, and verified community spread of COVID-19, the county still has one of the lowest testing rates in the state, at only 4.2 tests per 1,000 residents.
What does that mean? Uneven or inadequate testing leaves public health and medical professionals without a clear picture of how the virus is spreading within a given area.
And because people without symptoms can transmit the virus, it means COVID-19 in the Wichita area could be more prevalent than we know.
Until recently, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had limited COVID-19 testing to health care workers and first responders, people 60 years and older, hospital patients and others with severe symptoms.
This week officials lifted the restrictions based on age and underlying conditions, but residents still must have a fever and at least two other symptoms of the coronavirus to qualify for a test.
Local health officials cite a lack of testing supplies: Vendors are either out of stock on sampling kits, or supplies get diverted to more hard-hit areas.
But that doesn’t explain why Kansas’ largest city trails so far behind the rest of the state and even our region.
Johnson County, just outside Kansas City, has a testing rate of 5.48 per 1,000 people, according to the latest KDHE statistics. Shawnee County’s rate is 8.75 per 1,000. Wyandotte County’s is 9.54 per 1,000.
On Monday, KDHE Secretary Lee Norman said he didn’t know why Sedgwick County’s testing rate lags behind other urban areas. He said it may take longer to send test samples to the state laboratory in Topeka.
“I don’t think the hospitals in Sedgwick County have as aggressively built their own capacity in-hospital,” Norman told a Wichita Eagle reporter.
He said hospitals may be “holding out” in hopes of receiving testing devices that produce results in under an hour, which could facilitate more widespread testing.
Whatever the reason, the situation is clear: Wichita’s dismal testing rate means we may not have an accurate picture of the coronavirus spread.
Until we do, returning to our old normal could be dangerous business.
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