Shawnee Co. COVID numbers dropping dramatically, Indicator in yellow

TOPEKA (KSNT) - The Shawnee County COVID-19 Indicator Report is in the “moderate” category. The Indicator report period is from Feb. 20 through Feb. 26

The weekly case incidence, or the number of new cases diagnosed during a week, went from 279 to 185, a substantial drop in cases after several weeks. One week ago, the case incidence dropped from 605 to 279, which signaled hope that we may be moving towards managing the pandemic.

The percent of positivity went down from 7.2% last week to 5.9%.

The hosp[ital stress indiex fell slightly from 2.8 to 2.5.

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According to the Covid-19 Community Impacts Dashboard, current hospitalizations as of March 1 are at 31, a dramatic decrease from Feb. 1 when Shawnee County had 116 hospitalizations.

On March 1, the Covid-19 Community Impacts Dashboard for Shawnee County recorded 7 new coronavirus cases, nine less than the previous day, but two more than on Feb. 27 when the county recorded the lowest amount for the month at just five cases. On Feb. 1, The Shawnee County Health Department recorded 141 new cases. Since then, the numbers spiked twice: once on Feb. 4 when the county recorded 155 cases and on Feb. 8 when the county hit the month high with 159 cases.

The number of new cases measured out over the last thirty days has affected 55- to 64-year-old residents with 123 cases, followed closely by 25- to 34-year-olds with 117 cases.

Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped again in Kansas after a significant drop on Monday. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports 89 new COVID-19 hospitalizations in Kansas since the Monday update.

The Wednesday report includes data from 111 hospitals. Those hospitals report they are caring for a total of 396 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 377 are adults, and 19 are children. Seventy of the adults are in intensive care.

The state says 29 more Kansas deaths have been linked to COVID-19 since Monday, bringing the Kansas death toll to 7,975.

Every Wednesday, the KDHE updates how many active coronavirus clusters it is tracking across Kansas. This week there are 239 active clusters, 17 fewer than last week. The highest number of clusters continues to be at long-term care facilities. All other places saw a decrease, including schools.