photo by: Orlin Wagner/Associated Press

Medical personnel conduct coronavirus testing at LMH Health in Lawrence on Tuesday, May 12, 2020.

Douglas County has reported 684 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, an increase of five cases since Monday.

In Douglas County, 593 out of the 684 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health.

Six patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Tuesday, the same number as Monday. Four Douglas County residents have died thus far from COVID-19 or with the virus as a contributing factor in their deaths.

On July 27, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment changed the way it defined the number of people in the state who had been tested for COVID-19, KDHE spokeswoman Kristi Zears told the Journal-World. Prior to July 27, KDHE included serology tests, also known as antibody tests, in its definition of who had been tested. Now, KDHE only includes diagnostic testing.

Zears said third-party sites such as Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center or the COVID Tracking Project have not taken this definition change into their methodology yet, and that the most accurate place to view testing rates for the state of Kansas is on KDHE’s website.