New coronavirus cases increased 3.9% in Kansas in the week ending Sunday as the state added 2,780 cases. The previous week had 2,676 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Kansas ranked 23rd 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 19.4% from the week before, with 323,859 cases reported. With 0.88% of the country’s population, Kansas had 0.86% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, 10 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Saline County reported 48 cases and 15 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 35 cases and no deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 16,043 cases and 265 deaths.
Within Kansas, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Logan County with 537 cases per 100,000 per week; Labette County with 474; and Pawnee County with 343. 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 479 cases; Johnson County, with 449 cases; and Douglas County, with 244. Weekly case counts rose in 32 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Johnson, Douglas and Cowley counties.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Across Kansas, cases fell in 61 counties, with the best declines in Wyandotte County, with 99 cases from 217 a week earlier; in Riley County, with 30 cases from 113; and in Shawnee County, with 120 cases from 184.
In Kansas, 476 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, seven people were reported dead.
A total of 879,001 people in Kansas have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 9,555 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 96,397,885 people have tested positive and 1,059,605 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, Oct. 2. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 522
- The week before that: 553
- Four weeks ago: 604
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 51,355
- The week before that: 53,692
- Four weeks ago: 61,434
Hospitals in 17 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 25 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 17 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.
