photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Douglas County has surpassed 20,000 total coronavirus cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest data shared by Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health on Wednesday.

That total, specifically, is now 20,824 cases, with 5,810 of them active. As part of that total, the county recorded 673 cases in the past two days, and two more deaths have been added this week — a woman in the 45-54 age category and a woman in the 84 and over age category — bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Douglas County to 118.

The health department didn’t report any updated COVID data Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and did not immediately respond to the Journal-World’s request for additional data from over the weekend Wednesday afternoon. However, taking the difference between the cumulative totals as of Friday and Wednesday — 1,406 — and then subtracting the total number of cases added this week results in 733 cases added during the weekend.

Meanwhile, the 14-day moving average daily case count as of Wednesday represents yet another all-time high at 339.57.

As of Wednesday afternoon, LMH Health has 24 COVID-19 inpatients. Traci Hoopingarner, LMH Health’s chief nursing officer, reported that vaccines and boosters make a difference when it comes to the severity of those inpatients’ symptoms. She also noted an increase in the number of pediatric patients seeking care in the hospital’s emergency department due to COVID.

The health department continues to urge community members to get vaccinated, and administers vaccinations and booster doses for eligible children and adults at the clinic on the first floor of the Community Health Building. Visit ldchealth.org/getmyvaccine to register for an appointment, or call 785-843-0721 with questions or for help with registering. Shots are also widely available at various pharmacies and doctor’s offices.