photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Dec. 15 COVID-19 update from the health department

Douglas County reported 5,632 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, an increase of 70 cases since Monday. Of those 70 cases, however, only 35 are new. The other 35 are older cases from November and early December that disease investigators recently determined should have been assigned to Douglas County, a news release from the local health department said.

In Douglas County, 4,720 out of the 5,632 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 912 cases are active.

The county has averaged about 47 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 47.29 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 74 cases per day in mid-November and up from a recent low of 17 cases per day in mid-October.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 550.34 per 100,000 people.

Twenty-two patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Tuesday, one fewer than Monday. To date, 30 Douglas County residents have died of COVID-19.