Kansas reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 5,514 new cases. That’s down 13% from the previous week’s tally of 6,340 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Kansas ranked 25th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 11.2% from the week before, with 707,345 cases reported. With 0.88% of the country’s population, Kansas had 0.78% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, eight states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Saline County reported 106 cases and one death in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 178 cases and minus two deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 15,496 cases and 250 deaths.
Across Kansas, cases fell in 67 counties, with the best declines in Johnson County, with 791 cases from 1,053 a week earlier; in Sedgwick County, with 891 cases from 1,120; and in Wyandotte County, with 231 cases from 357.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Within Kansas, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Grant County with 615 cases per 100,000 per week; Rooks County with 528; and Greeley County with 487. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Sedgwick County, with 891 cases; Johnson County, with 791 cases; and Shawnee County, with 482. Weekly case counts rose in 33 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Douglas, Shawnee and Reno counties.
In Kansas, 12 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, -35 people were reported dead.
A total of 854,085 people in Kansas have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,947 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 93,641,944 people have tested positive and 1,041,149 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
Kansas’s COVID-19 hospital admissions falling
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Aug. 21. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 615
- The week before that: 709
- Four weeks ago: 740
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 68,647
- The week before that: 69,679
- Four weeks ago: 73,529
Hospitals in 14 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 19 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 20 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
