The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s COVID-19 website on Wednesday indicated Barton County has had its first child admitted to a hospital with the respiratory disease. An individual in the 0-9 years age group was added to the hospitalization summary.
KDHE reports Barton County has had 38 hospitalizations, with nine Intensive Care Unit admissions and five patients placed on mechanical ventilation, and 25 discharged patients.
The age groups of these patients are: 0-9 years, one; 25-34 years, one; 45-54 years, four; 55-65 years, 12; 65-74 years, nine; 75-84 years, five; 85+ years, six.
Inmate dies at Correctional Facility
A Hutchinson Correctional Facility resident who died Tuesday, Oct. 27 had tested positive for COVID-19. This is the seventh Kansas Department of Corrections resident death related to COVID-19.
The resident tested positive for the virus on Oct. 13 and was transferred to the hospital on Oct. 16. The resident’s family has asked that his name not be released. He was a 66-year old white male with underlying medical concerns that contributed to his condition. The resident was serving an indeterminate life sentence for aggravated sodomy. He had been imprisoned with the Kansas Department of Corrections since August 1988.
The Hutchinson Correctional Facility is Kansas’ second-oldest prison and houses 1,884 men. Formerly known as the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory, the facility has three buildings including the Central (all custody levels), East (low-medium custody) and South (minimum) units.
For current information on COVID-19 in Kansas, and to sign up for updates, go to the KDHE COVID-19 Resource Center at kdhe.ks.gov/coronavirus.
Clusters
The Hutchinson Correctional Facility and the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, along with three other Kansas Department of Corrections facilities, were on KDHE’s list of COVID-19 cluster locations, which was updated Wednesday. Hutchinson has had 138 cases within the last 14 days, with the last onset date on Monday, Oct. 26. Norton Correctional Facility was also in triple digits with 138 cases in the last 14 days. Ellsworth has had nine, with the last onset date being Oct. 21.
Aside from the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, there were no clusters in the Golden Belt as of Wednesday.
Kansas passes 1,000 COVID-19 deaths
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment updated its coronavirus statistics on Wednesday. As of 9 a.m. on Oct. 28, there have been 82,045 COVID-19 cases statewide, resulting in 3,752 hospitalizations and 1,007 deaths. There were 3,369 new cases, 31 new deaths and 106 new hospitalizations reported since Monday, Oct. 26.
Over the past weekend, KDHE’s disease surveillance system, EpiTrax, received an update which has automated a process previously done manually. On Monday and Wednesday there was an increase in cases that were part of the weekend update. Approximately 1,500 cases from Wednesday’s update were attributed to that review. The update does not affect the percent positivity or number of people tested.
With Kansas surpassing 1,000 COVID-19 deaths, Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday directed that flags be lowered to half-staff to honor and remember these Kansans.
“One of the many terrible impacts of this virus has been that families are unable to hold in-person services to mourn the passing of their loved ones,” Kelly said. “Each one of these Kansans was someone’s child, parent, or grandparent. They were part of a community.”
Pawnee County
The Pawnee County Health Department reports that as of Tuesday, Oct. 27, Pawnee County has had 431 positive cases, including those at the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility. The total “community cases” is 123. Sixteen of those were identified in the last seven days and 16 cases are active.
