Riverbend Assisted Living in Great Bend was listed as a COVID-19 cluster Wednesday with 12 cases in the past two weeks.
Every Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lists the COVID-19 exposure locations that have had five or more cases with symptom onset dates in the last 14 days. For the Great Bend long-term care facility, the last onset date was July 16.
The total number of cluster locations more than doubled, with nine last week and 19 this week. Seven of the locations were camps, including some in other states. An Illinois church camp at Lake Williamson Christian Center had 11 cases among Kansans in the two weeks ending July 14, and was on the list again this week because it had six. The cluster locations also included six long-term care facilities, the KSU Research Team at Manhattan, one daycare, one correctional facility, two group living homes and one private business. Riverbend was the only location in central Kansas.
Statewide
KDHE reports there have been 325,778 COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic, resulting in 11,445 hospitalizations and 5,218 statewide deaths as of 9 a.m. Wednesday. There were 1,541 new cases, 81 new hospitalizations and 20 new deaths reported since Monday, July 19. The number of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) cases statewide was unchanged at 17.
The total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in area counties was unchanged. The totals are:
• Barton 51
• Ellsworth 25
• Pawnee 14
• Rice 12
• Rush 14
• Russell 28
• Stafford 10
Barton County has had 91 total hospitalizations related to COVID-19 (an increase of two since the previous Wednesday) and Pawnee County has had 52.
Barton County has sequenced 32 of its COVID-19 specimens and found 12 with the delta variant and three with the alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2. Pawnee County has had four specimens sequenced and one was the alpha variant. Every county in the Golden Belt has now seen at least one case with one of those two variants.
Vaccination overview
As of Wednesday, 1,326,134 Kansans – 45.1% of the total population – have received on dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 40.1% have completed the vaccine series. In Barton County, 37% of the total population has received at least one dose.
The rate of people 12 years of age and older vaccinated with at least one dose/with the full series in area counties is:
• Barton 43.92%/40.63%
• Ellsworth 53.17%/48.32%
• Pawnee 49.63%/45.55%
• Rice 42.48%/39.27%
• Rush 48.32%/44.53%
• Russell 42.98%/39.52%
• Stafford 42.78%/40.45%
